Why I'm So Stupid?
by Animaman
Summary: AU, Naruto is now a chunin, and the invasion never happened. Things change after the truth of the kyubi is revealed to team 7 while Naruto learns the truth about his heritage. He also answers the question Sakura asked during Hinata's duel with Neji.
1. The New Naruto

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters, or Naruto would be like Goku when it comes to training and appetite, but a complete opposite when it comes to IQ and everything else.

My version of what happens after the chunin exam:

The sand and sound never invaded, but the third still dies fighting Orochimaru, due to his former student's grudge over which person he has picked to replace him as hokage, causing the two to go all out, which ends the same way.

Sasuke doesn't get bit, but gets his butt handed to him by Gaara.

Naruto defeats Gaara with the kyubi's help, and defeats Temari, without, becoming a Chunin.

Except for the usual suspects, nobody else knows about the kyubi inside Naruto.

Sakura hasn't been approached by Tsunade yet about becoming a Medic-nin

Sai will not be making an appearance anytime soon, mainly because I'm still waiting for the Naruto series to become translated, and the guy seems too much like a Gaara clone when it comes to emotions.

Everything else pretty much remains the same, except Naruto gets a little bit more respected, and reveals his true self to the entire village, which you'll see during this fic.

_Two months after the exam . . ._

"No! Now get the hell away from me!" Was the reply of one really ticked off Sasuke Uchiha, which doesn't seem to take much, before walking as faraway from the pink haired girl as possible, while waiting for their late as usual sensei to show up. When he started to walk past a certain Naruto Uzumaki, walking with his hands in his pocket, who was sporting his chunin vest, along with a new look, wearing the standard uniform, also with a cape similar to the Yondaime's, trying his best to look like his hero, causing him to glare at somebody who was no longer the dead last, still sore over their battle over the roof, due to the fact that his Rasengan did more damage to one of the water towers than his chidori did to the other, and that Naruto was taught by one of the legendary Sannin, among other things "Where the hell have you been?" He asked, "You're over a hour late." He shouted, with mixture of anger and annoyance.

Naruto didn't even blink, especially when the Uchiha prodigy was right in his face. He placed his finger onto his forehead, and pushing him away, he turned to his female teammate, "You asked him out again, didn't you, Sakura?" This was more of a statement instead of a question, causing said person to look down towards the ground, with an embarrassing look on her face, "And to answer your question," he started saying, before sending Sasuke a few inches back with a simple flick of his finger, "I was playing shoji with Shikamaru which took longer than we both thought, but we ended in a draw anyway, and the Hokage needed to talk to me about some things. As for the rest, well I just took my sweet time getting here knowing how considering our sensei's track record when it comes to being on time." After he was finished, Sasuke simply went into his usual whatever position, while Sakura was doing a pretty accurate impersonation of Hinata, from the finger touching to the full face blush.

Ever since the chunin exams, a lot of things have changed in the village, Naruto being a big part of it. Ever since he became a chunin, Naruto decided to throw away that mask that was seen by those who knew him well. Instead of the usual, hyperactive, knuckleheaded, brat like Naruto, they got one that is smart, calm, serious one who still lives up to being completely unpredictable. One of the few things that remain the same are his dreams of becoming hokage, and his taste for ramen, although his obsession for it just calm down enough to where he enjoys it once in awhile. What surprised people the most were the fact that he no longer wears orange since the stores since all the shopkeepers have either moved in from out of town, or some other reasons that none of their friends could figure out why.

Sakura also changed a little, while she is a little bit more serious about her training; she still goes head over heels over Sasuke. But ever since the new Naruto made his appearance, she started to feel different about him. While a little bit of the old Naruto still remains, like his sense of humor, and he's still loyal to his friends, she started to see him in a light that felt familiar for some reason. The one change that she was starting to regret is the fact that Naruto no longer asks her out anymore for anything, or tries to cheer her up anymore. It wasn't until about a week after Tsunade took office, when the changes started, along with a few surprises while she was having her friendly chat with Ino for the first time in a long time:

_Flashback . . ._

_They were sitting on both sides of the counter at the flower shop, trying to catch up on what happened since they separated due to having a crush on one boy who turned out to be more of an ass instead of a mystery. "Man I still can't believe who the new Chunins are. I mean I always thought Sasuke would be coming out on top." Sakura said, with a hint of disappointment in her voice._

"_I know what you mean, billboard brow, but in a way I'm glad he didn't." Ino responded, getting a surprised look from her friend._

"_Wait, did I hear right?" Sakura asked, "Am I even in the right building?"_

_Ino just gave a low sigh, "Think about it, will you? If Sasuke did become a chunin, do you think he would really treat us any better?" She asked, "Right now, I'm already moving on, I'm through batting my eyelashes at somebody with what appears to be a huge stick up his ass."_

_This definitely got Sakura's attention, "You mean I get to have Sasuke all to myself?" She said, with a little glee in her voice._

"_You'll be the only one pining after him, because from what I've heard, all the other girls moved on as well. Maybe you should as well." Ino said, "But it is your choice if wither or not you want to keep kissing that boy's ass or not."_

_She wasn't too please about that little statement, so she decided to change the subject, "So how does it feel to have one of your teammates become a chunin?" She asked._

"_Not all that different to tell the truth. Shikamaru is still as lazy as ever, but I'm still proud of him." Ino said, with such honesty, "And I guess ever since Naruto has proven us all wrong when he passed the whole thing, I don't know, I just started to feel like I needed to actually open up my eyes and see the real world for once." She said, looking a little sad, "So is Naruto still asking you out on dates?" She asked._

_Now it was Sakura's turn to look depressed, "No, he stopped asking me after the first round of the tournament, piggy. And ever since he became a chunin, he became like a completely different person. He's still friendly and his sense of humor has calmed down some, but now he's calmer, smarter, patient, almost like the Naruto we saw was just an illusion, and now I'm starting to have second thoughts about everything."_

"_Why's that?" Ino asked._

_Just before she could answer, a loud "OH, CRAP!!" Was heard just as a frantic Jiraiya went running past the window, while an angry horde of girls were not too far behind. A bell rang, indicating somebody just entered. When they looked up, they just about had a nosebleed after seeing the person. There stood Naruto, except for the vest, wearing an all black outfit (think Blade, minus the equipment you see in the movies), his blonde hair was just past his neck, longer than Sakura's, he wore black, fingerless gloves, like Kakashi's. All the time he spent training were definitely showing on his body, where his suit was showing off muscles in all the right places, while his ocean blue eyes added a strong, but gentle touch to this new Naruto, causing the two to give a blush that only Hinata could beat. With a slight cough, he was able to snap the two out of their little fantasies. He placed one of his fingers to his lips and did a little wiping motion, telling the girls that they have something on their faces. When they did what Naruto was indicating, they realized that they were starting to drool a little, causing them to go red with embarrassment._

_Inochi choose his moment to walk out of the storage room, "Ino, who's at the do-"he was about to ask, but froze when he looked at who it was, "Naruto, is that you?" When the young man nodded, "Wow, you look just like-"_

"_The Fourth Hokage when he was my age, I know, I know." Naruto said, rolling his eyes, "I've been hearing it so many times, its annoying as hell."_

"_Naruto, why were all those girls chasing Jiraiya?" Sakura asked._

"_Some fan girls were trying to jump me, so I quickly spotted the pervert walking by, so all I had to do was say "Hey, wasn't that you at the hot springs the other day." And judging by the looks on their faces, they have already been their not that long ago. The next thing I know, the poor dope is getting his monthly worth of exercise."_

_Everybody started to laugh at this, "So, you have fan girls now, huh?" Inochi asked, after he calmed down._

_Naruto went back to being annoyed, "More like the same ones that were fawn all over Sasuke, and then some." He said, catching Sakura's and Ino's full attention, "And now I finally understand what Sasuke had to go through. But that's not worst of it." He said a little rage was starting to build up in his voice, "I've been hearing people apologizing, I have been asked for forgiveness, and now, I have parents trying to act like everything they did was just a big understanding." When he started to calm down, he continued, "But this time, I'm not going to forgive anybody that easily, because now their going have to earn my trust this time." When he looked up, he noticed that Ino and Sakura had a sad look on their face, "But I'm also grateful to the fact that Shika, Choji, and Kiba were around to be my friends since before the academy days." He said, with a smile on his face. "Anyway, since I'm here, do you have any white roses left?" He asked._

_Inochi quickly responded, "Yeah, we have one left," He said, pulling it from behind the counter, "Consider this one on the house." He handed the rose to Naruto, who took it without argument._

_Just as his hand touched the doorknob, a voice stopped him, "Naruto, I know it probably won't mean much now, but I'm sorry for everything that I ever did to you, especially ruining your chance for having a love life." Ino said guilt completely visible in her voice._

"_I know you are, Ino, a lot of our friends are, but some things take time so please wait awhile longer." Naruto said, "And as for my love life, good chance that if you didn't, then the parents would have." and just as he was about to try and go for the knob again, Sakura's voice stopped him this time._

"_Naruto, can I ask you something?" She asked him, wanting to get something off her chest. When he nodded, she was having trouble getting the right words out, "Whatever happened to the Naruto before the exams? Whatever to the Naruto who would never give up asking me to go out with him?" She asked._

"_He saw how much you care for his rival, so he decided to give you what you wanted and stepped aside." Naruto said, without flinching, "He also got tired of getting beat up, yelled at, and blamed for every little thing just for being nice and generous. To tell you the truth, this is the real me, the other one was just something I came up with because I really didn't have much of a choice." He said, just as he started to open the door, "I'll tell you the real reason why, but not until you truly grasp the concept of that old saying: "Be careful what you wish for, or else you just might get it." After that, he left._

_End flashback_

It didn't take until the day after tomorrow for her to realize what he was saying, and for every one of the cruel and mean thing she put him through. When she told him this, he just gave her a neutral look, one that would make even Hiashi Hyuga a little nervous, before telling her that even though now she is asking for his forgiveness, it will still take a while for old wounds to heal.

And now, here they are the new team seven, with Sasuke leaning against the railing in his usual position, Sakura checking Naruto out from head to toe, and Naruto leaning his back against the bridge, with his hands in his pockets. After an half hour worth of silence, the only change being Sakura leaning over the railing, with a full body blush after her inner self gave her a glimpse of Naruto that would make most konichi faint from nose bleeds alone. It wasn't until Naruto said, "Hey, Kakashi." When smoke on a just appeared and disappeared to reveal the ever so late sensei,

"Sorry about being late, but . . ." Kakashi didn't get a chance to finish his excuse after getting a good look at Naruto's latest look, "Naruto, where did you get that fit?"

"From the super perv," Naruto answered, "but now is not the time to discuss about it. Right now, I need to tell you the real story about the battle that took place almost thirteen years ago and why I got treated the way I did." Naruto said, gathering up the courage to say what needs to be said, while getting everybody's attention.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was hoping that things would get better for Naruto's sake.

To be continued . . .

Next chapter, everything is revealed to team 7, and I do mean everything. Sasuke will change for the better after getting some knocked into him, literally, and everything else might prove interesting. The main couple is NarutoxSakura, if you have any ideas about what the other couples should be (no yaoi), then let me know, and I'll try to squeeze them in. Read and Review.


	2. Parents of a Hero

**WHY I'M SO STUPID**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters, or Naruto would be like Goku when it comes to training and appetite, but a complete opposite when it comes to IQ and everything else.

Naruto just gave a low sigh, before saying, "First off, the things you heard about the Fourth defeating the Kyubi is pure BS." This definitely earned him two curious glances and a depressed one, "While it's true that the Yondaime was ahead of his time as a ninja, even he didn't stand a chance going head-to-head against something that was considered unstoppable. So he only had one other alternative," he lifted up his shirt, revealing the seal on his belly, "He made a deal with the Death God himself, that in exchange for his life, the Kyubi would be sealed inside an infant, and that infant was me." He than lowered his shirt, "His last wish was that I be treated like a hero, but instead, since I'm a demon container, people took their anger, their hatred, their revenge on me since the day I started walking. I'm pretty sure you witness some of those events."

Sakura looked down on the ground, guilt evident all over her face, while Sasuke was now starting to actually respect his teammate, but then it dawn on him, "Wait a minute, Gaara . . ."

"Is also a demon container, carrying the one-tailed raccoon (A/N whatever it's suppose to be) Shukaku." Naruto started explaining, "The reason why he went psycho, well years from a lack of sleep will make anybody loose their sanity. One of the reasons is that if he either falls asleep or gets knocked unconscious, then the demon takes over. As for the rest, I think it would be better if Gaara himself was here to explain because, as a fellow container, and his first real friend, it's not my place to tell." He said, before walking towards Kakashi's position, "By the way, Tsunade wanted to see us right away, but I told her to wait awhile since you know who would probably show up late for his own funeral."

Kakashi gave a slight nod, "And I would like to talk to you after the meeting, Naruto." He said.

Naruto just gave a slight nod, "Hey, Sasuke, what time do you have?" He asked his teammate, just as their sensei pulled out his infamous book.

"About a quarter to noon." Sasuke asked, just after taking a brief glimpse at his watch.

"You might want to keep your distance away from the 'Legendary Sucker' if you value a certain part of your body." Naruto said to his sensei, who gave a slight gulp to that statement.

* * *

_At the Hokage Tower . . . _

Shizune was looking over some papers that needed the Hokage's stamp when she spotted Team 7 approaching the office. She couldn't help but feel disappointed on how her mentor kept turning down the council's demands to restrict Naruto's activities within the village. It was for the boy's protection so that way the Akatsuki won't get their hands on the demon inside him. She looked to see Naruto give her a look before entering the office behind her, as if to give a response to what she was thinking about.

She didn't know why, but that look Naruto gave her told her that he has different opinion on that. It wasn't until a loud, familiar "Oh for the love of god, no!" was heard from behind her, snapped her out of her thoughts. She knew that before the day was up, she had damage control to deal with.

_Inside the office-_

Tsunade was rubbing her temples, not from losing the bet, but from what she agreed to do if she lost. When she looked up, she noticed that the rest of Team 7 was keeping their distance, especially Kakashi who was just leaning against the wall, while Naruto was heading towards one of the windows.

When he turned to face Tsunade, he quickly sent his elbow towards the window, "oof!" causing the self proclaimed 'super-pervert' to come out of his invisibility jutsu. "You sneaky little runt!" He yelled, while getting back up onto his feet.

"Well, it was either that or you could have deal with that." He said, while nodding his head towards his left. When Jiraiya looked over to see Tsunade with a look he knows too well, "Good point" was his only response. "Well, to get things back on track, I told Sasuke and Sakura my little 'secret,'" He told Tsunade, "But I haven't had a chance to hear their responses yet."

Tsunade and Kakashi turned to the two, "And remember this, while it took Naruto a lot of courage to tell you something that he himself didn't know about until about a year ago, what you do next from here will determine what kind of person you'll become." Tsunade said, hoping this won't tear Team 7 apart, but bring them closer together.

"And whatever that choice will be, I'll understand either way." Naruto said, in the same kind of honesty that people all over has always known him for, "Anyway, what was it you wanted to tell us, or more specifically, me?"

Tsunade just gave her old teammate a sad look, who gave her an acknowledging nod in return, before facing her fellow blonde, "Before I do, we need to wait for Iruka to show up since I'm pretty sure you want him to know about this as will." She said only to receive a small nod from Naruto.

"Naruto, is that why my brother was looking for you?" Sasuke asked, finally realizing why Itachi came for Naruto.

"Yes, he was after the kyubi inside me, or more to the point, to extract it from me. If that were to happen, then I end up dead. That is why I had to drop my little mask and take the chunin exams as seriously as possible or else there will be anymore trouble if they succeed in their little plot." Naruto explained to them, giving them another look at how bad his life has been.

"You've always had our backs cover, despite how badly most us treated you, so now it's my turn to help cover yours." Sasuke said, while sticking out his hand, "When I said I thought of you as a brother, I wasn't lying."

Naruto just grabbed him until they were both holding the other's wrist. "Well, all you really did was act like a total ass towards everybody else, other than that; we just pushed each other to go beyond our limitations." He said, causing a small smile to appear on both boys and the adults.

Sakura decided to stick her hand in as well, "I know I'm still paying for my past deeds, but I hope this would put me one step closer to earning your trust again." She said, this time knowing that she is listening to her heart this time, and not following the crowd.

Naruto's smile grew a little, "Don't worry, it will." He said, before turning his head towards Kakashi, "Although it's too bad our sensei is just as thickheaded as some people of this village." He said, catching their leader off guard, "Since as I recalled, not once have I received any training from him, period. How about you, Sakura?" He asked his female teammate, "Hi Iruka." He greeted the person that they were waiting for after he just walked in.

"None, to tell you the truth." Sakura answered, "The only one of us to actually receive any kind of training is Sasuke while the rest of us had to fend for ourselves."

"Anyway, let's get back to business now, shall we Lady Hokage?" Naruto said, deciding that it would be better to confront Kakashi after their little meeting.

Tsunade started off with a small sign, knowing how badly this might turn out, "It's about whom your parents were, Naruto." When she noticed the look of sadness on Jiraiya's face, she knew that he was feeling the same thing she was, "Naruto, you are the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki of the Whirlpool village. You were given your mother's clan name due to the number of enemies your father has made during the war between the Leaf village and the Rock village."

Except for the Sannin, and for some reason Naruto, everybody was surprised to find out that Naruto was related to one of Konoha's finest ninjas of all time. Everybody was looking at the Hokage Monument, trying to picture the fourth with whiskers and it just confirmed it even further.

Naruto just said, "Well now that you just confirmed my suspicions, whatever happened to my mother?" He asked, trying to solve another piece of the puzzle involving his life.

Jiraiya pulled out a note from his robe, "This was left to me after Minato's funeral, just before I left on one of my journey." He said, handing it to the son of his friend, "I figured it was from Kushina since there was a blood seal placed on it meant for those of her family."

Naruto just took a brief look at the seal before he bit his thumb, "You weren't by any chance doing your little 'research' when you got this, now were you?" He asked, only to receive a small, innocent sounding whistle in return. When he placed his thumb on the seal, it disappeared to allow Naruto to read what was written inside.

Sorry it took so long, but some things happened. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Naruto does his three year journey with Jiraiya next chapter, but I'm going to try and combine two different bloodlines into one new and I need some suggestions on the name, what they could do, and from which parent. Read and Review.


	3. Rinnegan & Rinnesword

**WHY I'M SO STUPID**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters, or Naruto would be like Goku when it comes to training and appetite, but a complete opposite when it comes to IQ and everything else.

A/N I know I said I was going to combine bloodlines, but since most of the authors on the website beat me to some of the originals, and I don't want to use something that belongs to someone else, so I've been going to the Naruto Wikia website, and decided to use what I figured Naruto is going to receive later along the way. This chapter is also a theory of what I think Itachi gave to Naruto before he died. So feel free to read along.

_My Darling Naruto_

_If you are reading this, than I'm no longer of this world, and I'll be with your father in a better place. If you got this from Jiraiya by hand, than he must be taking the timing of this seriously. If you caught it midair, then he was either too busy with his so call 'research' or it fell out after being caught again by someone dangerous like Tsunade, or who I like to call 'old hag.' (Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at that part.)_

_Right now, I'm also sure you either figured out who your father is, or one of our most trusted friends told you about it already, considering how much you look like Minato, it wouldn't surprise me any if you picked up some of his smarts as well. And by some chance you picked up some of my behavior, especially my behavior towards others and my creative side, or some call my 'up to no good' side, like the time I swap out Tsunade's shampoo with a unique hair dye that made her hair disappear, which in turn made her think that she went bald. (Naruto was, at this point, trying hard to contain his laughter.)_

_Now to the point, while I still have the strength to tell the nurse how to write this letter before you decide to make your entrance into this world. While people might tell you that my hometown, the Whirlpool Village, no longer exists. The only thing that they don't know is that while it might be gone as a village, its far from dead since you inherited it from me, and that I left you some of my villages techniques, my clan's as well as some of the ones I've learned, along with some of the techniques belonging to your father, and some belonging to the Namikaze clan, which I'm pretty sure the '__**old pervert' **__won't mind helping you with. I had your father hide them both in the Hokage's office in order to keep it out of hands of those who would love to help themselves to such powerful techniques. They can be found in a secret compartment that your father created while also placing one of his seals that react to both ones blood and chakra signature, inside the bottom right drawer where the third used to keep his hidden stash of that god awful book._

_I also wanted to make sure that my theory is right about your bloodline ability, called the Rinnegan, which only appears on certain individuals, and remains a mystery among even the most experienced of shinobi don't understand all its secrets. You'll find a scroll with theories on it with the rest of your inheritance._

_Once again, with all my heart, I'll always love you._

_Your loving, and overly determined mother,_

_Kushina Uzumaki_

_P.S. If by some strange coincidence that you end up with having Kakashi Hatake as your sensei, then remember to bring a little snack along since he would even be late for his own funeral._

Naruto chuckled a little at that last part, but then he really turned serious, before looking up. "Has anybody heard of something called the Rinnegan?" Naruto asked, catching all the adults off guard. While he figured that they might take a while, he went over to the mentioned drawer, and when he took the sake bottle out, along with the glass, he spotted the seal that his mother was talking about, so he bit his thumb and reached towards the seal.

Sakura and Sasuke weren't to sure wither or not to admire their friend's bravery for getting behind the Hokage's desk while she is still there or what. When they saw Naruto pull out Tsunade's sake out of the drawer, along with a glass, they tried to stop their friend from committing suicide from what they think he is doing, until the clink of the glasses got the attention of the adults. Now they are just hoping that Tsunade would allow Naruto to have an open casket funeral.

"Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Tsunade asked, before getting ready to go for the kill until ***poof* **a cloud of smoke just saved the young blonde's neck. When the smoke cleared, Tsunade could see a stack of about 10, 15 sealed scrolls neatly stacked, along with what looked like a letter, which Naruto was reading right now, along with a couple of books that looked like journals. On the top one, it had the seal of the Yondaime, with the name Minato Namikaze under it. There were also a pair of scrolls put aside, one blank while the other had the Namikaze seal on it. As much as she wanted to ask Naruto how he knew about the drawer that has stomped her ever since she took office, but after seeing him reading what could be the only letter from his father, she decided to wait a bit.

When he saw everything pop out of the seal, the first thing he grabbed was a piece of paper which said Naruto Namikaze that caught his eye. When he opened it to read it, it felt like he could feel his father's soul in this letter, as if he was actually talking to him.

_Dear Naruto_

_I am writing this letter just as the Kyubi is attacking the village. If you are reading this, then it means that you received your mother's letter from my old sensei, Jiraiya, and you found your true heritage._

_The first thing I would like to say is that I'm sorry for placing such a heavy burden on you when you were too young to argue. While I make sure that the village would see you as a hero, I know that there is good possibility that they would treat you like anybody else who ends up carrying a demon inside them._

_The next thing I want to tell you is the things that you are receiving now. In one pile are the scrolls containing the history of the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans, along with their jutsus, as well as the personal ones me and your mother want to pass on to you. I also leave you with the information you'll need for my two main jutsus: The Rasengan, which I know would be among the first things that Jiraiya would teach you, and the move that earned me the title "Konoha's Yellow Flash," the Flying Thunder God technique. I know I can trust you to use these two techniques to protect the village and those you care about. Also there is a scroll that contains the abilities of the Rinnegan written by those who are only guessing what it does. Among the items should be two books, those will be the journals your mother and I left behind to help you out on whatever path you choose to take. I also left behind two other scroll that are separate from the main group, one blank to store the stuff in, and a scroll with our family's seal, which can only be opened by those who carries the blood of the Namikaze. In it is a sword that has been past down from father to son, but I haven't used it as much as I should, but I hope that you will._

_The last thing I need to tell you is that I'll be sealing only a part of the kyubi with in you, the yin/yang pieces if you will. The yin you will have, while the yang I sealed just for when things get too dangerous even for the yin side. The rest well be explained when the time comes._

_As much as I want to tell you more, the village needs me now before it is too late, so take care my son and please try your best no matter what._

_From your father,_

_Minato Namikaze_

_P.S. If Kakashi is there, then he can be the only one who can help you out with your kenjetsu lessons. Also, please whatever you do, don't take up on Jiraiya's little 'hobby', but you can have some fun with him like your mother and me does, like making sure he gets caught in the act._

Naruto could feel a tear roll down his cheek, but he didn't care since he now knows that his parents truly loved him. He than looked at the scroll with the family seal on it, and picked it up. He bit his other thumb and placed it unto the seal, when it acknowledged him as a Namikaze, the seal disappear and yet another *poof* made the scroll itself disappear while a sword popped out onto his hand. The sword in its scabbard was beautiful by itself: It was completely white with a gold trim, and a small red flame at the bottom, almost like the cape the Naruto is wearing right now. When he pulled out the sword, he could feel how light it was. When he looked at the blade, he could see it looked almost like a samurai's katana, except that it had a symbol saying the 'blade of six paths' on the one side.

Unnoticed to Team 7, their sensei and the two Sannin felt like they were traveling back in time, when the first Namikaze received that sword. "The Rinnesword! I thought Sensei said that he misplaced that sword when he was telling me a little bit about his clan." Kakashi said, having troubles believing his eye.

Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle a little at this, "Now Kakashi, you should know by now where Naruto gets his unpredictability from." He said, scolding Kakashi a little bit, "If Minato said he misplaced it, there is probably a good chance he didn't want to risk his clans' important items to be seized by other clans, especially the Uchiha and the Hyuga clans since they've been trying to become more powerful than the Namikaze clan ever was."

Naruto put the sword away, and placed it on the side of the desk. He than picked up the blank scroll, rolled it out on top of the desk, placed his newly found inheritance on it, and sealed it inside. When he was finished, he rolled up the scroll and placed it into one of the empty pockets on his vest. He then tied the Rinnesword to his left side, before turning towards the rest of the people in the office. When he saw the looks on their faces, he knew that this day just got longer, so he gave a low sigh before saying what needed to be said, "Looks like we have some strategizing to do, and now."

Tsunade just nodded her head in agreement with the one she considers as a son, "I agree Naruto. Although I want to stick it to those fools who still refuse to look past the demon inside you, I would rather have you decided how you want to proceed with this since this is your legacy that we're deciding on."

Naruto didn't take long to think about it, so he turned towards Jiraiya, "We're still on for that training trip right, Jiraiya-Sensei?"

Jiraiya just nodded before he started shaking, realizing that he forgot to give Tsunade the heads up on what he was planning to do. "Sorry, princess, but I already asked him and he agreed to come with me on a training trip with me." He said, just as the Hokage had slight vain appearing on her head.

"For how long you old pervert?" Tsunade asked, just waiting for the right moment to punch him into the ground.

"Just for about five years. Mainly to help him to be able to fight you-know-who." Jiraiya answered, sighing in relief for dodging one bullet, before remembering something, "Hey brat, get over here." He ordered his student, before pulling out a piece of paper, "I want you to flow some of your chakra into this paper, in order to see what your elemental affinity is." He said, before handing Naruto the paper.

Naruto did what he was told, and the paper did six things: It split done the middle, with one side, turned into a combination of ash and dust, the other side becoming soaked and slightly crumbled yet somehow a small piece on both sides seemed to stay the same, almost like it was neutral. This caught the adults by surprise since such a feat was something that only once every few generations. "Naruto, what happened to your eyes?" Iruka asked, after seeing Naruto's reflection on one of the windows. When Naruto looked up, what he saw was himself, except that his eyes were different from before. His eye color changed into what looked like a grayish-purple, with lines going outward making it seem like a ripple, "How did I do that?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke decided to speak for the first time in awhile, "Naruto, if the Rinnegan is anything like the Shaningan, then the only thing you need to remember is that you need chakra to activate it, and take the chakra away to turn it off, although I don't remember seeing you send any chakra towards your eyes."

Naruto nodded before the Rinnegan off, "I think my tenant might have something to do with it. As for what you just learn just now, don't tell anybody about my family or my bloodline ability since I should be the one to tell them. I also need everybody to make sure neither the council nor the public find out about me being the fourth's son, especially Ino since this would be big gossip material for her, since I'll need to prove it to them somehow. You can tell the rest of our friends about my burden, but you need to tell them not to tell anybody else because I don't want to risk any unnecessary chaos when I return."

Everybody nodded at his request, although Sakura knew that she had to be careful around her best friend since Ino tends to be dangerous around certain info. "So when do you leave on your trip Naruto?" Iruka asked the blonde that he considered being his younger brother.

"Tomorrow morning, right now I'm just letting the brat here spend some time needed to get his priorities straighten out before we head out." Jiraiya answered.

"Oh and to answer to your question about the drawer, Lady Hokage, here, take a look at this." Naruto said, holding his mothers letter in front of her. When she read it, first one vain, then a few more popped up; with a slight 'I knew it!" Came through her teeth. Naruto took the letter away and whispered to the group behind him about what she was getting steamed about.

While everybody was trying hard to keep a straight face, unfortunately, Jiraiya heard what was said and started to laugh like crazy until *BAM* he was sent flying out the window by a really ticked off Tsunade. This was everybody's cue to get out now before she turned on them.

When they started leaving, Naruto stopped and turned to face Shizune, "Let me ask you this, do you think of me as person who just happens to carry a demon, or the demon itself?" Naruto asked, catching Shizune off guard.

"I never thought of you as the demon, Naruto." Shizune said the honesty was enough to convince the boy.

"Another question, how do you know that what the council wants is truly best for me, or for their own little purposes?" Naruto asked, actually getting her to think differently about the council, "Or more specifically, how do you know Danzo doesn't have his own ulterior motive for me?"

"That's not true, Naruto, they're just looking out for your wellbeing." Shizune said, not wanting to believe that the council could actually be that bad, although she didn't want to admit out loud that Danzo tends to give her the creeps.

"If that was true, then they would have been working with the Third instead of trying to encourage the villagers to make my life a living hell, wouldn't you think?" He asked, this time just as he was turning around to leave the tower.

All Shizune could do was think about what this boy has said, until she heard him say "Oh, and by the way, you might want to stay out of the office if you value your life." Now her face grew pale because that could only mean that something has truly pushed the Hokage over her limit.

*** * ***

Naruto walked out of the tower to notice that Sasuke was waiting for him, "What's up?" Naruto asked the person he considered to be like a brother to him.

"I was just waiting to have a talk with you before you left on your training. Plus I wanted to say a few things, but I didn't want to do it in front of an audience." Sasuke answered back, trying not to be his usual self.

Naruto just nodded to this, "And there's something I want to straighten out with you before I left. C'mon, let's go to your place. I believe that is the best place to have our little talk." He said, before he started to walk.

Sasuke wasn't sure about this, but seeing how much of a change his friend has been through, he agreed to this and started to walk with him. The only thing they're trying to do is avoid all of the fan girls along the way.

I'll end it here since I have other stories to deal with. As for questions on the Rinnesword, it is like the other elemental weapons, with a few extras. Please don't ask what they are since I made the sword up on the spot, I hope you understand that part. Read and Review.


	4. Trouble Forgetting the Past

**WHY I'M SO STUPID**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters, or Jiraiya would have been brought back alive along with the rest of the village by Pein's ability.

The walk through the village was anything but uneventful. While most of the children, including a few of the parents, came to respect Naruto a little more now that they heard how much he has accomplished during the chunin exams, the rest of the villagers were still carrying a big chip on their shoulder, especially the older generation who were just as stubborn as the council.

Seeing Naruto and Sasuke walking side by side, with their eyes closed, caused the villagers to glare harder since the person that they have been placing on a pedestal was now walking with the much hated kyubi-brat like they are friends. "Sasuke how can you be walking with that demon? I thought you two were supposed to be at each other's throat." Were among the things being said among the crowd, along with the names that Naruto was use to hearing while he was a child. Another thing going through were people accusing Naruto of brainwashing the Uchiha, that some of them were getting ready to go for the attack.

"I'd advice against that. You just might hurt your precious Uchiha, and knowing him he would hit back and he would get away with it too." Naruto said, stopping most of the crowd from taking any risks.

"And besides, compared to what you did to Naruto while he was growing up makes you more like demons than he does." Sasuke said along, "As for being at each other's throats, being each other's rival is different than being someone's enemy, especially when that person is on the same team as you, and is one of your best friends."

This caused a slight gasp among the crowd, "That monster doesn't deserve friends. He should have been killed . . ."

"For what, something he never asked for to begin with?" Kakashi asked out loud, getting almost everybody's attention while reading his little orange book, "From what I recall, sensei was hoping that Naruto would be a great help to this village, not a punching bag to take your frustrations out on."

Some of the villagers were looking down towards the ground, feeling a shamed, yet there were still those who were even sorer losers, so one of them was crazy enough to pickup a kunai and threw it at Naruto's head, only for it to be caught by Sasuke, "For somebody to keep accusing another of being a monster, you are worse than a monster since you keep using the tactics of a coward." Sasuke said, before dropping it on the ground.

Naruto just said "Wish you hadn't done that. It looked like a good one too." Sasuke and Kakashi looked at him like he was nuts, "What? How do you think I was able to get enough money to buy some of these clothes? Most of my weapons come from the morons that throw them, that all I need to do is spend just a little bit of money for other types of weapons like tags and stuff."

Sasuke couldn't help but grin at this, "You really are Konoha's most unpredictable ninja." He said, before both continued on towards their destination, with Kakashi joining them along the way.

They didn't even reach ten steps before some of the villagers started to throw rocks at the blonde, unfortunately all three flickered away, before the flying rocks started to hit a few people, and broke some glass, "What the hell!!" Including the windows to the weapon shop, when the owner came out with a bamboo sword, the only thing that was on the villagers minds were 'we're screwed' before making a break for it.

*** * ***

_At the Uchiha compound . . ._

"So Sasuke, what was it you want to tell me?" Naruto asked, "If I explain why we're here now, then the topic might make you forget what you want to say."

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement, understanding what Naruto was trying to explain to him, "I just wanted to apologize for all of the hell I put you through, especially the ones that I had to share with you. After hearing about why your life has sucked, and thinking back to all the times that I didn't take losing to you will at all. You becoming a Chunin before I did, our little duel on top of that hospital, I guess I let the whole 'I'm an Uchiha, I'm already the best,' go to my head due to the villagers treatment towards me, even to cause the horde of my so called fan girls to treat you like trash just to try and impress me."

"Unfortunately they decided to move on to me since I'm pretty sure the only thing they care about is improving their image. As for why the villagers were like that, will some of them were trying to act like the past never happened and wanted to gain my trust, but I told them where they can stick their apology and what they needed to do if they want my forgiveness. So far they don't like it when the person they tormented for so many years has grown strong enough to stand up to them without a hint of fear whatsoever."

"You were never afraid were you, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, "You were only wearing mask for most of your life so people will look down at you, and holding back so you don't show everybody your true capabilities. Care to explain why?"

"I'll tell all of you tomorrow before I leave for my trip. I just don't feel like repeating myself at least twice." Naruto answered before going towards the task at hand, "I know you don't want to talk about what happened that night that everything changed for you, but I need you to tell me what it was like before the massacre and when it happen because right now I asked Iruka and a few others about it and something didn't sound right with me. So please explain it to the best of your ability and try not to leave too much out."

Sasuke just took a deep breathe and did as he was told, from what his family was like, his clan, the relationship with his brother, everything that came to mind and the more he told, he was starting to see where Naruto was heading with this, but wasn't sure where, "And that's about everything that I could tell you."

Naruto was just standing there, with one hand under his chin and the other supporting the arm it was on, listening to the whole thing, "Hey Kakashi-sensei, you were an ANBU captain before you became an instructor, did you ever get to meet, or even heard anything about Itachi before the massacre happened?"

Kakashi just stood there, in his usual calm manner, "I've met him a few times, and he was a complete opposite to just about every member of the clan. He was kinder, even with the Sharingan, and despite the fact that he was prodigy he was more about helping his friends instead of himself. He was even different from your father, Sasuke, since he didn't seem to care about the power that your clan had. Fugsasu was worse than the Hyugas ever were since not only didn't the Yondaime place the kyubi into Sasuke, but before he died, I don't know but he looked like somebody who was planning something that would have brought trouble."

Naruto thought for a bit, "Now that's where things seem a little off. What would cause somebody, a prodigy with a good heart, to wipe out most of his own clan in cold blood yet doesn't' even kill his own brother, unless there is more to this story than anybody realizes it." He said, getting the other two shinobi a chance to see the real him in a whole new light.

"What else could there be? My brother killed my entire clan in cold blood just so he could try out his new Mangeyko Sharingan." Sasuke said, "He even spared me so that I can come and fight him."

"Or so you can kill him." Naruto said, getting Sasuke's complete attention, "A cold blooded killer wouldn't leave any witnesses behind, even if they are family. What if Itachi didn't have much a choice, what if the massacre happened because somebody else was pulling the strings?"

"Why would anybody want my clan eliminated, especially when we were the most . . .? powerful . . ." Sasuke started to say until he started to remember something, "Wait, there was something going around the clan about what it would be like when they get an Uchiha into the Hokage's office. I didn't think about it at first since I always figured all of the big clans were like this, but if what you're saying is true, I pretty much doubt the Hokage would order the destruction on a clan."

Naruto just shook his head before saying "Not the Hokage, he would try to bring it to an end as peacefully as possible. But since your father was power hungry, and willing to use his own clan for his gain, then there is another person who would want them wiped out, or should I say some ones." Both Sasuke and Kakashi had their eyes opened wide at what he was indicating.

"The council," Kakashi said, "they've always been weary of the Third's choices as a Hokage, but this would be an all-time low if what you're saying is true, Naruto. Even if the Sadiame knew about the real reason . . ."

"Think about it Kakashi. The old man was not just known for knowing everything that happens, but like my father he has some of his own secrets and I'm pretty sure that if people found out the real truth about the Uchihas, then all hell would break loose." Naruto countered, reminding them why he and the Third were so close, "Plus I'm pretty sure that Itachi had one other solution to comply with the council's wishes . . ." He left hanging for Sasuke to finish.

"By becoming the scapegoat for protecting the village," Sasuke started to realize, "And by having me become powerful enough for me to put him out of his misery for the pain he caused me and for slaughter his own clan."

"Unfortunately since we don't have any proof, we can't do anything." Naruto said, "But if you work together with Tsunade and a few others while I'm gone, then by the time I get back, then we should be able to set things right."

"Agreed, and we also need to keep an eye on Danzo just to be safe." Kakashi said, now starting to realize how badly he has been underestimating the blonde.

Sasuke on the other hand looked like he want to strangle something, but he calmed down enough to realize that the person he thought of as a brother has just showed another one of his talents: Changing people for the better, "I'll see you tomorrow dope, and whatever you do, comeback stronger." He smiled before walking towards his house.

"You can count on that, bastard." Naruto said, "Now I better hurry home and get my things together for my trip."

Kakashi decided to walk with Naruto. Just as they reached his apartment door, Kakashi decided now would be a good time to make things right for himself, "Naruto, can I have a word with you?" He asked, in a tone that he hasn't used since he lost his sensei.

Naruto spotted the tone and decided to listen to what he has to say, "Sure, just be ready for anything okay." Naruto said, before disabling a seal.

"When did you learn about seals?" Kakashi asked as he walked in to see an apartment that is beyond clean compared to his own.

"Since I was about five and I first moved in here. The first week I lived here was a living nightmare. Basically every time I came back, I find the place ransacked, vandalized, you name it. Some even started to throw bricks and rocks at my window. I just got tired of it and asked the Third if he teach me about using seals. I guess I impressed him because according to him I was on par with my father, except that he was a few years older than me when he started out. After learning everything I needed to know, I came back and started to place a couple seals on the door to keep both villagers and ninjas out, even by flickering in, and I also placed seals on the windows to keep them from getting smashed along with a twist to that it sends whatever objects thrown at my apartment will be returned to the sender, and nobody brave enough to complain about it to the hokage since that would be like confessing to their crimes and the Third would be more than glad to teach them a lesson." Naruto explained, while both he and his jounin leader took a seat, "Now what did you want to talk to me about?"

*** * ***

_At the Haruno residence . . ._

Sakura was on her bed thinking about everything that she just learned throughout the day. Not only was her friend and teammate the container for the kyubi, the most powerful demon that ever was, yet he was also the son of the Fourth Hokage and she couldn't help but feel bad for all the things that she put him through. He has been treating her like a friend, doing everything he could to please her, even risking his life to protect hers and all she did was beat him, berate him, and give all the credit to Sasuke only for him to give her his back in return.

After Naruto made it out on top during the chunin exams, and became the only chunin in their team, she was slowly starting to wake up to reality since Naruto just changed into his other self. When he told her that the other him was just a mask, she thought just to hide his true feelings, now she's not so sure. When she left the Hokage's office, she started to have the same thoughts for Naruto as she did with Sasuke, except that this time she recovered in time to realize what she was doing: Wanting to treat Naruto the same way she does with Sasuke, just because he is the son of a hokage. She already realized during the exams what her crush on Sasuke has really cost her, and if she followed through with Naruto, he would stop considering her as a friend since he is already having fan girl problems.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts, "Come in, mom." Sakura called out.

The door opened to reveal an older version of Sakura, "Sakura, honey, you seemed a little confused when you came home today, is this about a boy, perhaps Sasuke?" Her mother asked, although this time causing her daughter to give a slight flinch.

"No it's not Sasuke, Mom. It's about Naruto." Sakura answered back, "I think he's starting to make me realize what I've been missing out on since I've been busy ogling for Sasuke's affection for so long. Compared to him, Naruto was always a true friend while I didn't care as long as Sasuke would just give me his attention. After everything that has happen during these past couple of months, and finding out the truth about why his life started out so bad, makes me want to actually know him better." She stated, not noticing the look on her mother's face.

"Why would you want to know about that demon brat since all he ever does is bring trouble? He doesn't even deserve to live." Her mother said with venom in her voice.

Sakura looked at her mother with anger, "Just because he has a demon sealed inside of him doesn't make him a demon." She yelled out, catching her mother off guard, "Naruto told me everything, like why the person that the Fourth asked to be treated like a hero, but instead got treated badly for something that he had no choice on. Its amazing that he didn't end up like Gaara."

Her mother can't believe that her daughter was actually defending the boy. "It doesn't matter. The Kyubi killed so many people, including your grandparents. That boy should have died the day he got that beast."

"Can you listen to yourself. You act like everything that happens is Naruto's fault, just like a lot of people in this village. Did you know that everyone that Naruto meets always end up changing for the better? Did you know that if it wasn't for Naruto, that Gaara would never have changed into a decent person?" Sakura argued back, "It was even because of Naruto that we managed to get a new Hokage. He even saved my life more than once. You would notice if you weren't so blinded by your anger towards him!"

That did it, without even thinking, the mother gave her daughter a loud slap. After seeing the shocked look on her daughter's face, she realized how far she took this argument, "Do you see why I say that boy is nothing but trouble?! Look at what he made me do!" She shouted out, with tears in her eyes.

This only infuriated Sakura even more, "Naruto didn't make you do anything. That boy is more kind than trouble, so take responsibility with your actions!" Sakura yelled back, before getting some of her things into her bag, "I'm going to spend the night at Ino's until you finally realize that Naruto is anything but what you claim him to be."

All the mother could do was cry because now her daughter was moving on with her life and she just ruined her chances of being apart of it.

Well, here's the latest chapter. The next chapter is when the journey really begins, so be patient about it. Read and Review.


	5. The truth Comes Out

**WHY I'M SO STUPID**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters, or else Naruto would at least put up a better fight against those who ridicule him.

Ino was just getting ready to take a loud off since she just got back from completing five D-ranked missions, right now the only things she was looking forward to be a nice hot meal, followed by a nice soothing bath afterwards. She is currently sitting on the couch in her family's home, until a loud knock on the front door told her that she might have to wait a little longer on those.

She stood up and walked to door after realizing the person isn't going to be leaving anytime soon. When she opened the door, Ino was surprised to see her best friend standing there with a bag in her hand, "Forehead, what are you doing here?" She asked, before noticing a red hand mark on her friend's cheek, "And what happened to you?"

Sakura stood there for a little bit, looking like she was going to explode with so many emotions, "I just had a huge fight with my mom, so I have to leave for a little bit." Sakura said, "Would it be okay with your parents if I stayed here for awhile?"

"Sure, but they'll want to know the reason why." Ino said, while leading her friend towards the couch, "Although I don't get why your mother would just go all out and attack you."

As soon as they sat down, Sakura gave a small sigh, knowing that it would be now or never, "It all has to do with Naruto . . ." Sakura started to explain, getting her friends full attention.

*** * ***

Kakashi started to walk home after his little conversation with Naruto, feeling like a new person because the blonde has once again shown him why he is the most unpredictable person he has ever seen, just like his father.

_Flashback . . ._

"_So what did you want to talk about sensei?" Naruto asked, while took a seat._

"_I just wanted to apologize for not acting like a proper sensei to you since the wave mission. Your father was one who would never play favorites. He would try to make sure that nobody would get left behind in their training." Kakashi explain, "If by some chance he comes back now how well I was treating his son . . ."_

"_He'll make the Thousand Years of Pain jutsu feel like a million." Naruto finished, causing his sensei to shiver with fear over the thought, "Anyway, if you're going to say what I know you're going to say, then don't bother saying it, because no matter how you say it makes it sounds just as bad as it was for me growing up."_

"_How so?" Kakashi asked, surprised that his student had him figured out so soon._

"_Because the last thing I need is for people to treat me like royalty, the same way people have been treating the Uchihas and the Hyugas for so many years. The one thing my father would want is for me to work my way from the ground up." Naruto explained, "Plus when I return, and word spreads that I'm a Namikaze, then I'll truly being going through a lot of hell since I'm the last one."_

"_So what is it that you would like me to do?" Kakashi asked, intrigued by this boys insight on things._

"_If you really want to make up for everything, then do what you always tell us whenever we get out of bad situations: Learn from your mistakes, and try again until you get it right. As for the rest, I'm sure you can figure out on your own." Naruto said, while getting up on his feet, with a hand sticking out._

"_I'll do just that, and thanks for the advice Naruto." Kakashi said as he took the offered hand, before starting to leave, "Oh, and before I forget, I will talk to the Hokage about what you said on what we discussed at the Uchiha manner, and considering on what, or rather who, you plan to back with you as proof, I'll make sure that the Hokage has the red carpet ready."_

"_Yeah, yeah, just leave already so that I can pack." Naruto said, with a chuckle._

_End Flashback_

After that talk, he finally got to know the true Naruto Uzumaki, or rather Naruto Namikaze. He took out his favorite little orange book and kept on walking.

*** * ***

_Back at the __Yamanaka home_

To say that Ino was shocked would be an understatement. Finding out that her fellow blonde, one she used to always look down upon, was the container of the demon that attacked this village so many years, and the reason for the hatred he had to deal with. "Poor guy. Having to grow up with such a heavy burden like that, having most of the adults hate him for something that was beyond his control, and the fact that we didn't make matters any better the way we did." Ino said, having an all new respect for Naruto.

"I know, and when I told my mother about what I was feeling, well here I am." Sakura said, while finding the floor more interesting until the slamming of the front door shook her out of her thoughts.

"Oh I see that we have company, hello Sakura." Misty Yamanaka said as she greeted the pink-haired girl.

"Hello Mrs. Yamanaka." Sakura greeted back.

"Hey mom, Sakura just had a little falling out with her mom and needs a place to stay, so can she stay here?" Ino asked her mother.

"It's alright with me, but what I need to know is why would you and your mother be fighting in the first place? From what I've seen, you two have always been close." Misty said to the two girls.

Sakura had a sad look on her face, "It was about Naruto." When she said this, Misty dropped what she was doing and looked at her, "He told me and Sasuke everything about the kyubi and why he grew up the way we did. After we learned another secret from the Hokage, I went home to think about how I was going to make it up to him. Unfortunately, that was how our little fight got started. When I started to defend him, she slapped me, and when she realized what she did, she tried to pin the blame on him."

Misty shook her head slightly, "I'm not surprised. Ever since that day, that poor boy has been almost everybody's little scapegoat, and that they would even encourage their own children to treat him like an outcast. Although I have seen a few parents try to encourage their children to be nice to him, we've even try to encourage Ino here, but they didn't want to risk becoming another target for bullies." She said, "Even Ino was more concerned about her looks and public image."

"Dad says I get that from you." Ino said despite the guilt that she was feeling about what she did in the past.

"Oh he does, does he?" Misty said, with a look in her eyes that indicated danger, "Looks like we will be having a little talk when he gets back. Elsewhere, said individual felt a cold shiver go down his spine, "Anyway, how about you help me get dinner ready."

*** * ***

_The next day_

Everyone in the Konoha 12, including their senseis, Iruka and the Hokage herself showed up to wish their friend and his perverted sensei off on their journey. They already gave him a hug and a pat on the back while Jiraiya was threaten to have his jewels smashed by Tsunade if he tries to get Naruto to follow in his perverted footsteps. The Sanin looked like a ghost because he knew for a fact that his former teammate is more than capable in keeping true to that little threat.

Deciding that now would be a good time to tell his friends the real truth about the mask he wore for most of his life, "Before we leave, there is something you need to know about who I was for the past few years, and the way I am now." He started to say, getting everybody's attention, "The person you see before you is the real me, the only people who knew this are Shikamaru, Chouji and Hinata. The one you've seen at the academy was the mask, the only reason I wore it is because if people knew that I was any better than Sasuke, even become rookie of the year, they would demand blood, especially the overly annoying Sasuke Fan Club." Sakura and Ino looked down at ground, knowing full well that he is speaking the truth, "I could even protect myself from all the abuses of the other kids, but the only thing I can do is take it because the parents would use that as an excuse to get rid of me because the so called **demon** attacked their child even though he was just defending himself."

Except for those mentioned, and the senseis, they were surprised to find out that the person that was considered the dead-last of the class was far from it. Shikamaru, being the lazy genius that he is, was the one to ask the only question, "That isn't the only secret you have, is it Naruto." He asked.

Not the least surprised by the boy's question, "Actually I have two secrets. One I can't tell you because its about the family I found out I belong to, that I can't tell you until after I get back because it's something that would cause more harm then good if I tell you now." Except for the ones that already knew the rest nodded their heads in agreement with what he was trying to say, "As for the other, well I'll have Sasuke and Sakura explain it to you. Right now we better get going while the going is still good."

"Definitely." Jiraiya agreed right away, anxious to get away before Tsunade gets any other ideas on what to do with his body parts.

"Oh and before I forget," Naruto said, before pulling out a scroll, "This is for you Kakashi. Just make sure that I'm already outside the gate before you open it." Kakashi took it, and nodded at Naruto's request, "Anyway, so long everyone."

After all the goodbyes and farewells were said, the pair left, and the pair left through the gates, Sakura asked, "What's in the scroll Kakashi-sensei?"

"Good question." Kakashi answered, while he started to open up the scroll. When he opened it wide enough, *boom* his entire face was covered with a yellow dye. While everybody around was laughing their guts off, Kakashi spotted three little words on the scroll: Now we're even.

Here is my latest chapter. Sorry that it is a little shorter than the other two, but nobody's perfect. Anyway, the next chapter tells what happens during the trip, so wait awhile. Read and Review.


	6. Hardest decisions made so far

**WHY I'M SO STUPID**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

Kakashi is currently in the Hokage's office, with bits of yellow dye still stuck in his hair, wanting to have a little talk about what was discussed yesterday at the Uchiha compound, but first he needed to ask the hokage a question that was bothering him, "Can I ask you a personal question, Lady Hokage?" He asked.

Tsunade's face went from happy to serious, "You want to know why Naruto would have those he cares about the most hear about one of the most important secrets in his entire life instead of wanting to listen to it privately, is that it?" Tsunade asked only to receive a nod in return. _'The brat got it right again.'_ She thought, before explaining the story.

_Flashback . . ._

_Tsunade was doing some paperwork, while Jiraiya was looking out the window, trying to keep his eyes away from the hot springs._

_Naruto arrives at the office, wearing his new standard ninja uniform, which was mostly similar to the Yondaime's, the chunin vest being the exception, upon the Hokage's request. "So what is it that you need to discuss with me, Lady Hokage?" Naruto asked the elder blonde._

_Tsunade looked at her former teammate and both gave a small sigh before she started to speak, "Naruto, with you achieving the rank of Chunin at such a young age, and proven yourself to be more than a capable ninja, what I'm going to tell you next might change all that. It involves your family."_

"_And judging by the way you're saying that, I'm guessing it's something I'm not going to be too pleased about." Naruto said._

"_And nobody would blame you for it since some are starting to understand you better." Tsunade said, "Anyway, the person you looked up to as a hero, as well as the person who placed a terrible burden on you, is your father, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime."_

_What surprised them the most was that Naruto was giving them a stoke look, and judging how cold his eyes were, he would even make people like Danzo and Itachi Uchiha more then jumpy, "Somehow, that doesn't seem so surprising to me, considering why he would pick me. Although it won't stop me from greeting him with either my fist or my foot." Naruto said, "And what about my mother."_

"_Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, of what used to be the Whirlpool Village." Tsunade explained, "You were given your mother's name due to the fact that the Rock village would want revenge for what your father did during the last war we were in."_

"_And the Third didn't want to risk any unnecessary chaos when word spread that the Fourth had a son, especially those who still hold a deep grudge against my prisoner." Naruto said, "So now what?"_

"_I'll leave that up to you to decide since this mainly involves you." Tsunade said, only to notice that her fellow blonde was in deep thought, "What is it?"_

"_I would like to bring my team into this." Naruto said, "Right now, I was planning on telling them the truth about me," both Sannin's eyes went wide, knowing full well what secret he is referring to, "But with this new secret, I want to see for myself how they would react to such a thing before I decide to make this public. In a way, I want to test them to see if not only they are worthy enough to earn some of my trust again, but also to see what kind of response could come from the rest of the village when word spreads that the person they've been rejecting all these years is the son of the man they called a hero."_

_The two Sannin understood where he was going with this. Basically, this info, plus the info about him and the kyubi, would be a big turning point in the young chunin's life it could either make his life better, or ruin any chances for a decent life. "Okay, I'll agree to that. I'll also give your team a break from missions today so that way they won't be distracted from what they have learned today." Tsunade said._

"_Yeah, although I do need you two to do one thing, and that's to act like this conversation didn't happen, because right now, I'm not too sure how to respond to all this and maybe seeing their faces when we're together for this news might help some." Naruto said, while standing up, "Anyway, I'll see you at noon, consider Kakashi's track record when it comes to his timing."_

"_Oh, and before I forget," Jiraiya said, getting his first say into this conversation, "I'm pretty sure your old man would want you to have this, not only to show people that he made the right choice on being the kyubi's container and to honor his memory, but also to make up for the burden he has placed upon you." He said, while tossing a white cloth at him._

_Naruto caught it, and unraveled it to reveal that it was a white cape with red flames on the bottom the same one Minato Namikaze was famous for wearing. He put his arms into the sleeves, and rotated it so that it would land on his back. When he looked up, he could clearly see the jaws of two of Konoha's most respected ninja on the ground, "Let me guess, except for the whiskers . . ." he started off._

"_You'd be a dead ringer for Minato." Tsunade finished._

"_Well, see you at around noon." Naruto said._

"_Or earlier, Kakashi might actually be early for once." Tsunade said._

"_Wanna bet?" Naruto said, knowing full well how the __**Legendary Sucker**__ could never resist the urge to gamble._

_End Flashback_

"So Naruto already knew, but he decided to make it look like that meeting from yesterday was the first time he heard about it." Kakashi said, only to receive a nod in return. He gave a small sigh, "Just how badly have I underestimated him?" He asked.

Tsunade looked at him with a little sympathy, "Relax Kakashi, you're not the only person to underestimate him, basically just about this entire village had just took one look at him and thought of him as nothing more than a nuisance, even going as far as badmouthing him, and now most of them are eating their words, mainly due to their own children opening their eyes to what their parents didn't bother trying to see in the brat."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at this: His blonde student finally getting the kind of attention, Anyway, as for reason why I'm here . . ."

*** * ***

Sasuke, Sakura, and the rest of the Konoha 12 were currently at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, where they already got a section reserved for those of the Akimichi clan. Right now, they were strategizing on what to do next.

After Naruto left to go on his training trip, Sakura and Sasuke both told the rest about the real truth about the kyubi, and, except for Ino who already knew, the rest were shocked to find out the real reason behind the hate in this village.

Shikamaru, being the most observant, asked, "So are there any other secrets that you're not telling us?"

Sasuke was the one to answer, "There is, and we're not going to tell you because Naruto asked us not to." He said, getting an understanding nod from the rest, "And before you ask Ino," causing said girl to give a 'who me?' look, "It involves his family and that's something that he wants to tell everybody himself when he gets the chance."

"So what are we going to do with Naruto's other secret?" Kiba asked between bites of his food.

"He wants to keep it between us, since he doesn't want to risk coming back to a Konoha gone to hell because of things that should stay in the past." Sakura said, before noticing something different about two particular people, "Hinata, since when have you and Lee started going out?"

Said girl started to blush, making her face match Sakura's hair, "About a month ago. I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going and Lee accidentally tripped and crashed into me, and his lips happen to crash into mine, kind of like that 'incident' before we got assigned to our teams, except that something good actually came out of it."

When she brought up the 'incident,' there came two responses: A sick look on Sasuke, and a pair of guilty looks on Sakura and Ino's faces. The only ones that didn't have a clue what they were talking about were those of team Gai. Shino took one look at them and decided to explain, "The incident that she is talking about involves Sasuke's and Naruto's first kiss, unfortunately, due to the accident caused by another, with each other."

Tenten took a quick look at Sasuke, "I can understand the quick look," She started to say, before looking at the two girls, "but what would you two have to feel . . . guilty . . . about." She was about to ask until it dawn on her.

Shikamaru only said two words to confirm hers and Neji's thoughts, "Brutal retaliation."

Neji spoke first, "So because Naruto took away your chances of obtaining Sasuke's first kiss, you two decided to pound the living daylights out of him."

"Them and the entire Sasuke Fan Club," Kiba said, causing a small chill to go down every boy's spine, "And it's amazing how Naruto didn't end up like Gaara from all the torment we've put him through in the beginning."

Sakura was really feeling guilty, because she was no better then any of the other villagers who decided that Naruto was not worth having around. She jumped when she felt a finger poke her in the shoulder, and turned to Sasuke, who had a small smile on his face, "We need to talk." He said, before getting out of his chair. All Sakura could do is nod, and follow him out of the door.

Everyone watched the pair leave, before Kiba stood up, "Well, as much fun as this was, I'm going to go train. Right now, I don't want to be left behind when Naruto returns from his little trip."

The rest of the group decided to depart, except for Choji who got stuck with the check.

*** * ***

Sasuke and Sakura both were quiet when they reached Team 7's usual meeting place. Right now Sakura was feeling a little nervous, because the fan girl in her was currently driving her crazy with some of the fantasies she never got over. What happened next killed the fan girl part completely.

"Sakura, I don't want you to pursue me anymore." Sasuke said, catching the girl by surprise, "Right now, you're my teammate, and a friend, just having you as a girlfriend is something that will never happen."

Sakura look down for a bit, but for some reason, she felt relieved, "I understand. You don't' like fan girls, and like Naruto, I never gave up on asking you out on a date, and like you, I rejected him badly." She said.

Sasuke just shook his head little, "Not quite like either one of us. When I reject you, I just tell you so you back off. When you reject Naruto, yours is more harsh because you pound him, berate him, insult him, even when he is just saying hi, thinking that would please me. All that ever did was given me a reason to despise you even more because you thought that would please me for acting like a coward for attacking when somebody is defenseless." He said, "And as it comes to asking for a date or whatever, Naruto was different because when you reject him, he keeps training to make himself a better ninja, while you on the other hand just keep bugging me to spend time with you, and I'm guessing that even though you are alone, you are still thinking of ways to impress me."

Sakura felt even guiltier when Sasuke hit her with every single point he made, and knew that he was right. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she was surprised again when she looked up to see Sasuke giving her a sincere smile, "But you do have a chance at being with Naruto. The way you've been looking at him these past couple of months, I could tell that the way you're looking at him shows that you are moving away from the crowd, and listen to your heart, because compared to your feelings towards me, those towards Naruto is more real."

Sakura just nodded and said "Thank you for setting me straight Sasuke and you're right, my feelings towards you were a fake, the only reason I felt that way was because I just wanted to fit in. After the Chunin exams, I think Naruto finally made me open my eyes and start to see what the real world is like, and I know now that I really have to make it up to him for all the grief that I've caused him." She placed her hand on his, and gave him a small smile saying that she will be okay.

Sasuke took his hand back, and started to leave. "I'm going to go find Kakashi and have him help me with my training. I suggest you take this moment and think about where you want to be right now, because I'm pretty sure that even Naruto would want you to decide if you want to take your career as a ninja seriously or resign and find something that matches your abilities." He said.

Sakura just stood there for a bit, and did just that, 'what do I really want to do?'

*** * ***

When Kakashi finished what needed to be said, he looked at the Hokage and knew what it meant when she pulled out a sake bottle, and drunk out of it, she now has a migraine and needs to drown it out. "Now if it's okay with you, I need to make some arrangements on Sasuke's training." He said.

Tsunade just waved him off. Before he reached the door, "Kakashi," She yelled out, getting his attention, "I need to confirm something before you leave. Are you absolutely, 100% certain that Naruto might actually be right about this, and not blowing smoke?" She asked.

"Lady Tsunade, the one thing I have learned about this original Naruto is that he is not to be underestimated. From what I can tell, I think this is his way of showing the people, especially those in the main council, who wronged him for most of his life that they've been screwing the wrong guy for the last thirteen years. Later." He said, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Tsunade couldn't help but chuckle at that part. The person she thought of as a little brother was giving some of people a good hard look at what they chose to turn their backs on because they can't let go of the past. A small knock on her door caught her attention, "Come in." She said. When the door open to reveal the pink haired kunoichi, "Ah, Sakura, how may I help you?"

Sakura found the floor somewhat interesting, "I was wondering if you could train me to become a medic-nin, Lady Hokage?" She asked, catching the village a little bit off guard.

Tsunade just sat there for a bit before saying "I could, but first I need to know what the reason would be for asking such a thing. Is it to impress the Uchiha?"

Sakura shook her head, "No, we've talked about it and confirmed that we could be nothing more then friends and teammates. I want to do this because I still want to be a ninja, and I'm tired of being the scared, helpless little girl who needs to be protected from her teammates because she was too busy neglecting her training for a boy that was never meant to be in the first place." She explained, although she lowered her head more, with some of her hair falling in front of her face to cover the slight blush making itself known all over her face, "Plus I owe it to Naruto since I've never been acting like a ninja, a teammate, a friend . . ."

"Or, in your case, a girlfriend." Tsunade said, reading between the lines, causing the girl's entire head, even her hair, to go red with embarrassment, causing the Hokage to give a light chuckle, "You've convinced me, so make sure you show up early tomorrow and we can start your training."

Sakura gave a quick thanks before heading out the door, "Oh and Sakura," Tsunade's voice rang out to get her attention, "You might want to make sure that you keep as much focus as possible because compared to Kakashi, I'm not afraid to make things a living hell if you're not careful." Sakura's entire body became as pale as a ghost when she stepped out of the door.

*** * ***

_Somewhere near the wind country border_

Naruto and Jiraiya were currently having lunch at a Chinese restaurant, Naruto having a little chicken chow mien and Jiraiya having some sweet and sour pork. Right now Naruto was the only one eating while Jiraiya was busy ogling the girls that were either working there or eating with their friends. Right now, considering some of the glares pointing at his teacher's direction, he decided to help give the girls a little payback. He intercepted a waitress walking by, and had her bend over so he could whisper something in her ear.

Jiraiya was busy looking around until he caught his student whispering something into a waitress's ear, and judging the blush on her face while she was nodding her head a few times, she was enjoying being this close to the blonde. When they were done, the waitress whispered something back and gave him a quick peck on the check and she hurried off towards the kitchen, "What was that about?" He asked.

"Oh I had her agree into giving us a discount on dessert if we could give her something in return, and she said she might if we ate all our food like proper gentlemen." Naruto explained, while the older man had a perverted look on his face before Naruto smacked him upside the head, "Well what are you waiting for? It's rather insulting to the woman who cooked these delicious meals if we don't eat." Not noticing that the other girls had there eyes glued to him, except in a happy way, he gave the waitress a quick wink from his eye, causing her girl in his line of sight to blush madly.

Jiraiya, who was busy eating his food like there was no tomorrow, did notice and the only words that came to his mind were 'Lucky bastard' just as he ate the last bite.

When Naruto saw that both plates were empty, he signals the waitress to do her thing. She grabbed the plates while another one came by with a hot fudge sundae for Jiraiya and a banana split for Naruto, "Thank you." He said with a smile, placing the girls around him dangerously close to fainting from blood loss alone.

When both finished their meal, they stood up to pay at register, Naruto started to count down from ten when he saw smoke started to come out of his sensei's ears and nose, when he got to one, flames started to come out of his mouth, "I think I saw what looked like a river or creek on the other side of that one weapons store." Naruto said which caused the Sannin to disappear as soon as he heard the word creek. When he left, Naruto just chuckled before asking "Just what did you put into his ice cream?"

The cook came out and said "Oh just a combination of Tabasco and horseradish sauces." With a big, amusing grin on her face, "Thanks for giving us a chance to get even with that annoying pervert."

"Thanks for helping me pull his head out of his ass." Naruto said, causing the entire room to laugh their butts off while Naruto gave a generous tip to the waitress, "And thanks for the good food." He said before walking out of the door.

Just as he stepped out the door, words like 'did you see that cutie?!' and 'I wonder if that guy is available?'

Here is the latest chapter. The next couple of chapters will take place during the time skip, and those of you who were hoping for a SasuHina or a KibaHina, sorry to disappoint you, but I like to mix and match every now and then, and since there are so few LeeHina, I decided to go for it, plus it gives me an excuse to give Neji a hard time. Read and Review.

This would have been up a couple of days ago, unfortunately the website decided to be a pain that time.


	7. A few surprises and old habits

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

Heads up, but if this story has an M rating, it means that I'm playing it safe since the next few chapters might be heading in that direction if I'm not careful, especially when it comes to writing about Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya.

It has already been a month since Naruto left on his training trip, and he is currently doing some meditating to help with his chakra control since now that he has dojitsu to add to his training. Right now he was having a little conversation with his prisoner.

"Hey fox, we need to talk."

"Why would I have anything to say to such a puny human such as you?" Kyubi asked.

"Because you owe it to me since I had to endure all the bullshit from the day I was born." Naruto answered, reminding the fox who has been in charge since that day, "Just as much as you owe Madara Uchiha for using you the same way the council used Itachi."

"How do you know about that name?" The fox asked, knowing that nobody else in Konoha knew about the real meaning behind the attack.

"It was in my father's journal. He wrote it on the day of the attack. In his last words, before he placed it with the rest of my inheritance, he noticed right away that your attack seemed more focused on something, or rather someone. He even somehow noticed that in your eyes you seemed to be under somebody's spell, and the person he could think of that was capable of doing such a thing would be a really strong Uchiha."

The Kyubi gave a loud chuckle, "Your father truly was an incredible human. I can see where you got some of your smarts from." He said, "You're right, I was used, although I'm still not sure why because around that time, I was no different then Gamabunta. I was a summon meant for Madara Uchiha, and him alone. I would have ignored his order except that he had the advanced stage of the Mangekyo Sharingan. I'm still not sure what it was, so don't ask."

Naruto nodded his head, "Another question, why did you activate the Rinnegan while I was checking my elemental affinity?" He asked.

Kyubi just chuckled again before speaking, "That wasn't me that activated it, it was you." When he saw Naruto give him a look that told him he didn't completely buy the whole thing, "As soon as you learned about the Rinnegan, naturally you wanted to know everything about it, which woke up a part your body that was waiting to be used. When you started to channel chakra that was when the Rinnegan made itself known."

Naruto nodded his head, "Anyway, I'll talk to you later. Right now I need to get ready to go so that we would be able to make it to Suna before nightfall." He said, while getting ready leave.

"Hey kid." Kyubi yelled out, getting the blondes attention, "If its okay with you, I would like to place a mental link between us. It would help both of us in a long run. All of your senses can become as good as my own, while at the same time it would provide me with a second chance to enjoy the world again. It would also give us a chance to talk to each other without you having to meditate or close your eyes."

"As long as there is an off switch to it, then I'll agree to it." Naruto said before vanishing. When he opened his eyes, he could feel his senses on high alert, "This will take some getting use to."

'Tell me about it.' The fox said, 'I've been trapped inside this damn cage for so long, I thought I would die from boredom alone.'

"Well, since Jiraiya didn't return from his little 'research' trip, then it's about time for me to knock him down a few pegs." Naruto said, while getting his little plan into action. Right now he already has a little plan made up, and Kyubi was laughing his tails off when he got a good look at what it was.

Naruto put on a muscle shirt and his vest, before biting his thumb. He went trough the proper hand signs before saying "Summon Jutsu: Gamakiki!" He said, before placing his hands onto the ground, causing a small puff of smoke appeared. When it cleared, their stood a red toad that uttered the word, "Yo."

"Hey Gamakiki, you up for a little fun?" Naruto asked with an evil grin.

*** * ***

Just as predicted, the self proclaimed super-pervert was up behind a pile of rocks, leaning against a boulder, looking through a telescope while blood was currently trickling out of his nose. Out there in his line of sight, was a trio of beautiful women soaking it up in one of the hot springs that Suna was currently famous for.

Right now he already has an idea on how to do his next story in his head until he saw something that made his blood boil, 'No, no, no! What does that brat think he's doing?' He watched as he saw his student walk right up to the girls in full pack, with his sword on his back and a map in his hands. He was thinking that he would have to pick up what would be left of his student until he saw something that changed his mood from mad to envy. The girls weren't even close to mad in fact two of them, even though they seemed to be a few years older than his student, seemed to have a blush forming all over their bodies.

This was when he got a good look at his student and realized why. His student was wearing a black muscle shirt, with his vest opened, along with a pair of black pants, and with the sweat making them cling onto his body, while he on one of knees, gave the girls the same kind of thoughts he gets whenever he looks at beautiful women. 'Lucky bastard!' Came to his head before another showed up, 'Why didn't I think of that?' He wondered, too focused on what was going on before him to notice a red toad sneaking up on him from behind.

Naruto was busy chatting away with the girls, getting directions to Suna, "So it's about a couple of hours to the East from here." He said, confirming what he just heard.

"Yeah, just keep going threw a bunch of sand dunes and you should be able to spot the village in no time." The girl said, while trying to keep her thoughts from taking over. Being this close to this boy, whose body can be seen perfectly through his clothes, she can't help but image what this boy would look like within the next few years.

"Well thanks, I better get going now." He said, while getting back up on his feet. When he got a couple of feet away from the women, he was stopped by them, "What is it?"

One of them blushed before saying "We wanted to ask your opinion on something." When he gave her a nod in return, "Do you think we look beautiful?"

Naruto just looked at them for a sec and said "Yes, and as long as you have a good kind heart beating inside of you, then I'm pretty you'll each find a man who would be more then pleased to have you by his side." He continued to walk away, while leaving three very happy and contented ladies behind him.

When he was a good distances away, he gave a slight whistle, which was followed by a loud "YOWWW!" He turned around just as his perverted sensei landed just a couple of feet from the spring. He looked towards the rocks to see Gamakiki jump up, and gave a small wave before poofing away. He looked to notice that his sensei was getting up, with a really ticked off look on his face, "Why you little brat." He said, while dusting himself off, before feeling three very strong killing intents aimed at him, remembering where he just landed.

"Ladies, please make sure my sensei can at least limp away. I still need him for my training." Naruto said, just as a shadow clone came by with Jiraiya's stuff. He grabbed it and looked at his sensei, "Consider this payback for all that Ryo you stole from me just so you can go get drunk and laid."

Just as Naruto started to walk away, the killer intent that Jiraiya felt turned into a hurricane. Just as the women were just about to beat him into a bloody pulp, the only thing the Sannin could think of right was 'Oh crap!'

*** * ***

_Back at Konoha . . ._

Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Tenten were at the dango shop, enjoying some girl time out, along with Kin and Karin, who were both taking some time off from their duties. Kin was found not too far from death after the invasion. When she made a full recovery, she decided to switch sides after getting a good look at what her former Kage's true purposes were when he started the Sound village.

Karin was also from the Sound village, not as a ninja, but as one of Orichimaru's little science experiments. She manages to sneak away a couple of weeks ago, and she was found by Team 8, who were just returning from a mission. After recovering in the hospital for a couple of days, she became good friends with Sakura, who was just starting the hospital part of her training. After she was released, and allowed to become another apprentice of Tsunade's.

"So Karin, how are things going between you and Sasuke?" Ino asked, causing said girl started to blush like crazy, "That good huh."

Another thing that went well for Karin was that she started to date Sasuke about a week ago, when Sakura introduced the two. Something clicked since that day, and they started dating ever since, "Yes well, I'm a little more grateful since I don't have his fan club to deal with anymore."

"And me and Ino are both glad to be out of that club." Sakura said, Ino nodded her head in agreement, "All that did was turn us against the world just so we could be with somebody who wasn't interested in a bunch of people looking to improve their image." She was feeling sad about that part, including Ino, when they started to remember what they were in the past.

Hinata decided to lighten the mood a bit, "Anyway, back to relationships, I'm not sure, but was that you I saw kissing Choji at the park, Ino?" She asked. A small smirk started to appear on her face when she saw said person turn red with embarrassment. "When did you two started going out?"

"After Naruto left to go on his trip." Ino said, "He was wanting to ask me ever since we were in the academy, but he couldn't because I was too busy trying to think of a way to gain Sasuke's affection, and more concerned about my image to care about anything else. Ever since that first date, when I got to see a side of him that I've been missing out for so long, I realized that we were meant to be."

Tenten, who just finished off her pocky, said, "Just one more reason to be grateful for having somebody like Naruto for a friend."

"I know, and I'm grateful that he's giving me a chance to make it up to him for all the hell I helped the villagers put him through." Ino said, with a real smile, "Although forehead here is probably hoping to snag Naruto for a boyfriend."

Now it was Sakura's turn to blush. Before the exams, her old self would have denied it right on the spot, now she wasn't afraid to admit it, so the only thing she could do was give a slight nod as her response.

"Well, as much fun as it is to discuss relationships, I better go get some of my training done before I get ready for my date with Neji." Tenten said, before getting up.

Hinata got up next and said "Don't forget, it's a double date tonight."

"We're still on for that double date, right Kin?" Ino asked the dark-haired girl just as they were about to go off towards their own destinations.

"Yeah, I've already made sure to remind Kiba about tonight, and what I would do to him if he doesn't act properly." She said, causing the girls to give a slight giggle, while said boy felt the sudden urge to protect his boys.

Just as there were two left, Karin noticed the sad look on her pink-haired friend's face, "Are you alright Sakura." She asked, concern evident in her voice.

Sakura snapped out of her trance, and quickly stood up, saying "Yeah, I'm fine, I just don't want to be late for the other half of today's training with Tsunade-Sensei." She quickly ran off towards the Hokage Tower.

'You still can't let go of the past, can you Sakura?' Karin asked in her mind.

*** * ***

A couple of hours later, at training ground 7, Kakashi was helping Sasuke learn how to do jutsus without relying on the Sharingan too much. After learning some things about Naruto, especially about his past, and thinking about how it was through hard work that enabled Naruto to become a Chunin, he decided to follow his example. Even Itachi fit into the same category as the blonde.

Kakashi was showing him how to the hand signs for a lightning jutsu, and what it could do, until he was stopped by Sasuke, "Kakashi-Sensei, can I ask you something?" He asked. When he received a nod, "If I wasn't an Uchiha, would you have stilled trained me the way you have now, or would have given me the cold shoulder like you did with Naruto and Sakura?"

Kakashi gave a small sigh, knowing that this question was due to come up eventually, "Actually I would have trained you because you were the rookie of the year in your class. That was my biggest mistake because I never took the role of being a Jounin sensei seriously. I never bothered with Sakura when it came to training because she was too focused on you, while Naruto on the other hand was wearing his mask, making it easy for me to underestimate him." He explained, then deciding for the first time in his life to tell him a little bit about his past, "That is something that would give the Fourth a reason to rip me a new one because when he was my sensei, the one thing he never did was neglect anybody on his team on their training, no matter what."

Knowing that this would be a touchy subject for his teacher, he decided to help get his mind off the past, "Now can we hurry up and finish training? I have a date with Karin tonight, and I don't want to pull off an impersonation of you're timing."

Kakashi gave an eye smile and got into position until the word 'date' finally registered to his brain, and he froze like a statue, "Oh crap!" Were the only two words that came out of his mouth.

Sasuke caught this, "What's up?" He asked his teacher, who looked like he was going to die on the spot.

Kakashi stood straight up and said "I've got a date with Shizune tonight and I forgot to book some reservations for tonight!"

Sasuke now knew that his sensei really was going to die at the hands of Tsunade's assistant if he think of way out of this mess, "Too bad you can't cook, or you could give a nice picnic with a view somewhere." He said.

"You got right." Kakashi said, "Looks like we'll have to finish training early today Sasuke while I go out and . . ."

"Make sure Shizune still allows to have children." Sasuke said, not helping to chuckle at his teacher's response by shivering all over while placing his hands over his groin.

"Later." Kakashi said, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke gave a little laugh before walking away, "I guess I better go get ready for Karin."

*** * ***

Naruto was just getting to the top of the sand dune that faced the outskirts of Suna. He was starting to catch his breath from all that walking, when he felt something dangerous heading his way. He turned around "Finally got away, huh?" to greet Jiraiya, who looked like he got run over Chouji one too many times.

Jiraiya took his pack out of Naruto's hand, "I'm going to make you wish you hadn't done that to me brat." He said in anger.

"Try it and I'll use a sexy jutsu version of what Tsunade looks like without her jutsu." Naruto said, causing Jiraiya to shiver at the thought, "And to warn you, Gaara has two older siblings, one of them a sister and they're both a bit overprotective of her. Plus she has a fan that she tends to use as a club, so you better be careful if you value all of your body parts."

Jiraiya was as pale as a ghost as they started walking towards Suna.

Here is the latest chapter. Jiraiya getting pounded was the only action I can think of since I'm still trying to figure out how to make this story run smoothly. Next chapter will be Itachi vs. Naruto, Sharingan vs. Rinnegan, so it should take me awhile to figure out how to work it out. Read and Review.


	8. Rinnegan vs Sharingan part I

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

It has been a year since Naruto left on his five year journey with Jiraiya and right now he was busy meditating, and he was thinking back to their visit to Suna.

_Flashback . . ._

_Naruto were sitting in the Kazakage's office, having a little talk with Gaara, who was just filling in the spot until the council made it official. With them were Gaara's brother Kankuro and his sister, Temari, along with their sensei Baki and some lady named Chiyo, while Jiraiya was rolled up in a ball in the corner, nursing his privates since he was dumb enough to go into pervert mode on Temari only to receive a hard smash into the jewels when she swung her fan into them._

_They were catching up, although Kankuro had a disappointed look on his face, although it was hard to tell since he looked a little beat up in the face, because he was there to bring the two guests over to Gaara, he saw how most of the female population were staring and drooling at Naruto, who was giving them a good view of his well formed body. It didn't help that when some of the academy girls tried to jump him, Naruto did a substitution jutsu, using him as the substitute. When the girls saw this, they started to pound the living daylights out of him, which caused Temari to breakout laughing._

_Gaara decided to ask a question that has been bothering him since his defeat during the semi-finals, "Naruto, you said that we were so much alike, especially when it comes to our upbringing. I was wondering if you could explain it to me a little better?" When Naruto looked like he was considering his answer carefully, instead of opening his mouth, he raised his right hand and used one of his fingers to point at his whiskers. It took Gaara barely a minute to figure it out, "You're a container as well, aren't you?"_

_This caused the rest of the room to be shocked by this, while Naruto just nodded his head, "Yeah, and like you, it was done by my father, but for different reasons." He answered, "While your father was hoping to use you as a strong weapon, my father sealed a demon inside of me to save his village from destruction, and to do that, he sealed the nine-tailed fox, Kyubi inside of me the day I was born."_

_This definitely caught Chiyo's and Baki's attention, Chiyo's most of all, "Boy, tell me the name of your father." She ordered, wanting to confirm something._

_Naruto just looked at her, before answering, "My father is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash." When he heard the same response he heard in Tsunade's office, "And I know what you are going to say next so don't bother. Anyway, we're here to discuss some more urgent matters."_

_End flashback._

They were able to get Gaara up to speed about Akatsuki and a few other things. They didn't leave entirely unscratched, or at least Jiraiya didn't since just as he recovered from one pain, he got another when he got slapped hard by Chiyo due to the fact that her brother has become badly influences by the _Icha Icha_ books.

Right now he was just focusing on keeping his chakra under control before the Kyubi made itself known, "Hey kid, I sense some familiar figures heading this way, one of them being the person you are looking for." He said.

Naruto sniffed the air and recognized one slightly similar to Sasuke's, "Thanks for the heads up Kyubi." He said, before getting back onto his feet. Just as did, he quickly formed a shadow clone and had it give the pervert the heads up.

When the clone was out of the area, two cloak figures jumped into view, one looking like an older version of Sasuke, while the other looked a sushi reject. "About time you guys showed up." Naruto started saying, while getting his sword out, "What happened, did shark-face here kept getting hooked by some dumb fisherman?"

Kisame was looking a little pissed at the moment because for some reason, even with his sword, people are still able to make cracks about his appearance, "Keep it up wise guy and you'll have to answer to my little friend here." He said, while patting the handle to his sword.

Naruto just decided to ignore him, while turning his attention towards his main target, Itachi, "I thought I let you know that Sasuke no longer wants to kill you, but to welcome you home with open arms." He said.

Itachi was no where near expecting that, "Why would Sasuke give up his revenge for his clan especially since it was done by his own brother?" He asked, sounding a bit angry.

"Because I had a nice little chat with him about some things that just didn't seem to add up, especially when it came to you. After I had Sasuke clear his head enough to think about the past, plus the fact that his own brother was being used in the same way I was, as a scapegoat to take all the blame for other peoples' misfortunes." He explained.

Before he could continue, they were interrupted by a loud panting sound, so they turned to see Jiraiya being led by Naruto's clone, which was using the Sexy Jutsu to get his attention. What happened next, nobody saw coming: Kisame took one look, and just like Iruka and the Third, he got knocked out by a massive nosebleed. Itachi took one look and shook his head at his partner's action. "For somebody who can challenge a god without breaking a sweat, you really are pathetic."

Naruto on the other hand, "You better disappear now before he gropes you." He ordered the clone. It quickly nodded and disappeared. When it did, Jiraiya shook his head a few times to get it back into the focus, "Welcome to the land of the living."

"You do know you interrupted some very important research." Jiraiya said, looking like a little boy whose play time got interrupted.

"You do know what Tsunade would do to you if she found out that you let Akatsuki capture me because you were too busy doing your 'precious' research." Naruto said, causing the man to go extremely pale at that thought, "Anyway, I need you to go keep shark face busy while I go at it with Itachi."

"And just how do you think I should do that?" He asked, thinking the boy is trying to insult him.

"How about using your Sage mode?" He answered while walking towards Itachi.

Jiraiya was looking angry at this suggestion, "You know how much I hate using that, it'll scare the girls away if they ever saw me in that mode." He said.

Naruto got about twenty feet away from Itachi, before he stopped, "It's not like they were showing interest in you in the first place." He said, causing the hermit to flinch at that blow to his pride, reminding him that, like his father, was getting most of the girl's attention, "Besides, before I left, Tsunade was kind enough to give me some old pictures of you that I can show around if you don't cooperate."

Jiraiya gave him a curious look before his face went pale, "Not the . . ." He started to ask before receiving a small smirk from the blonde, "Find, I'll fight him, and I'll only use Sage mode if I have to."

Naruto then turned his attention towards his opponent, "Shall we?" He asked before they both got into position.

*** * ***

_Back in Konoha_

Sakura was doing her rounds at the hospital, when two of the regulars appeared. Holding each other up on their shoulder were Kakashi and Sasuke, looking like they just came back from a war. This was starting to become a regular thing since the two's meaning to the words 'holding it back' is completely different from her own. She just shook her head, "I swear, I thought Naruto was bad when it comes to training before he pulled off that mask of his."

Kakashi and Sasuke, both placed their free hands to the back of the heads, and gave a slight chuckle at this. Ever since that day when they were allowed to get a good long look at the real Naruto, and some of the things he said to them, they started changing for the better, except for maybe Shino since he literally has bugs crawling all over the place, Sasuke being among the biggest since he started to become more open with others.

"Well since I no longer want to kill my brother anymore, right now I just training to see what I want to do sometime down the road." Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded at this. All their friends were doing the same, even finding love, while the only thing she can do is keep working as a medic–nin while waiting for Naruto to come back from his trip, "And you're not by any chance looking for more excuses to be late for your dates with Shizune now are you?" She asked her old sensei.

Kakashi was about to answer before a voice he knew too well answered for him, "He better not if he knows what's good for him." Kakashi was scared stiff just as Shizune walked out from behind the pair, "I'll take care of this one." She said, before dragging the poor jounin out the door by his ear.

Both were laughing at this, ever since the rest of the group became Chunins, they've been busy as of late. Karin came walking in, laughing, just after she saw the famous 'Sharingan Kakashi' being treated like a little boy who stole a piece of cake. She calmed down enough to say "Sakura, the Hokage wants to see you, so why don't you go ahead and leave this one to me."

Sakura nodded and left. Just before she reached the door, Sasuke called out to her to say something, "Sakura, you really need to start letting go of the past if you really want to make things work between you and Naruto. That's why Naruto is the way he is now, instead of letting the past control of his life, he chose to take control. It's thanks to that which allowed me to become what I am today."

Sakura didn't even answer as she started her journey towards the Hokage's office. She knew what Sasuke said was true, it's just that she can't seem to understand why she's having trouble letting go of hers. 'Why can't I move on while everybody else is having a nice happy with somebody they love. Even Lee and Shino have found somebody.'

'Maybe it's because you've been realizing that you've actually had a good thing right under nose and by the time you actually look, it was gone.' Her inner self said.

Sakura was angry at that, 'Well what do you expect? I was too busy trying to get the attention of the boy that was every girl's dream.'

'Dream is right.' Inner Sakura countered, 'Except that as soon as Naruto proved himself to everyone, the fan girls decided to switch to him, and that's when you finally started to wake up to reality.'

Sakura didn't say anything back because she was already nearing the doors leading towards the Hokage's office. She gave a light knock on the door, to which she was granted entrance through."

*** * ***

The duel between Naruto Namikaze and Itachi Uchiha was at a stalemate. Itachi was surprised that this boy could keep up with him, even when he is just using the regular Sharigan he still got some good size bruises. He was even more surprised when Naruto started to use the Fourth's signature move, the Flying Thunder God Technique. "Okay Naruto, it's time for me to bring this to an end." Itachi said, activating his Mangeyko Sharingan, "Tsukuyomi."

Everything changed, with the world going black, with the exception of a blood red moon in the sky. The only thing that wasn't black was Naruto, in a grayscale color, who was bound to a T-shaped block, while Itachi was holding a sword. "In this world Naruto, I have complete control, so what would feel like days of torture, would only last a few moments. When I'm through with you . . ." He started saying before he got hit by Naruto's fist, canceling the jutsu. When he recovered, "How did you . . . what in the hell?" Itachi yelled out after looking into Naruto's eyes

"Since you decided to up the ante, I might as well do the same." Naruto said, his Rinnegan eyes staring right back at Itachi.

Well, decided to throw in a two parter. Sorry it took so long to update, it's just that there are some moments when I want to write, but sometimes I feel too lazy to do much. Read and Review. Sorry if this seems short to you, but even writers have their off days.


	9. Rinnegan vs Sharingan part II

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

"Since you decided to up the ante, I might as well do the same." Naruto said, his Rinnegan eyes staring right back at Itachi.

Jiraiya and Kisame were just sitting around in the side lines, eating some popcorn while they watch the fight between Uchiha and Namikaze. (Don't ask where the popcorn came from, these stories don't always have to make any sense whatsoever.) Kisame spoke up when he saw Naruto's eyes, "That ain't by any chance the Rinnegan?" He asked the perverted Sanin.

Jiraiya nodded his head just as he sprinkled a little salt on his popcorn, "Yeah, he activated it about a year ago and he has been training it since, along with a few other things." He started while pulling out his little notebook, "Plus, he's been giving me some good material to work with due to all the beautiful women ogling him."

The next thing he knew, his notebook was hanging between his legs, with a kunai sticking out of it, about a couple inches away, causing his eyes to grow huge, "Next time, your notebook will be taking over as your privates." Naruto said in a dangerous tone.

Jiraiya's eyes rolled to the back of his head just as he started fainting, causing Kisame to break out laughing.

Itachi shook out of his stupor to say something, "I see that you are still full of surprises, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto decided to give him another little surprise, "Actually, it's Naruto Namikaze." He said, causing the two missing-nins' eyes to widen, "Oh come on, Itachi, you spent time with my father when he was helping you get through the insanity caused by most of your clan, and you didn't think that the fact that I look like him with whiskers was more then a mere coincidence?"

Itachi looked like he wanted to hug Naruto on the spot, but only two main things were holding him back, one being his Uchiha pride, the other is the fact that Kisame would be more then willing to give him a hard time about it. "I see, so you really are Minato's son. As much as I would like to get to catch up on old times, I've still got a mission to do." He said, before activating his second ability involving his Mangeyko Sharingan, "Amaterasu." He said, just as he was about to release the unstoppable black flames.

What happened next really got Kisame to laugh like crazy. The next thing Itachi knew, he felt a big poke in his ass, and he went flying into a tree. When he recovered, he turned around to see Naruto on his knee, with his two hands clasped together, with his index fingers pointing out, "One Thousand Years of Pain." Naruto said.

When Itachi recovered, for the first time ever in his life, he wasn't sure wither to be impressed in Naruto's abilities or be extremely pissed off for being violate. "I see that the boy we encountered in that hotel was just putting on an act." He said, while getting into a taijitsu position, with a kunai in hand.

"If you want to talk about acting, then try looking in a mirror." Naruto said, while getting into his, with the Rinnesword in his hand. Just when a single leaf landed right in the middle, both charged towards each other, trading blows while their audience is busy trying to keep up.

Back in Konoha, Sakura was frozen in place because in front of the hokage are her parents. Her father she could get along with pretty well because he never saw Naruto the way most of the older population did. They still talk every now and then, even after she moved into her own apartment about a month after she stayed at Ino's, he even helped with paying for the down payment and security deposit.

Her mother on the other hand was a different story. They have never spoken to each other ever since that slap in her room. From what her father has been telling her, he has been busy trying to convince her mother into their line of thinking when it comes to Naruto, but it was a very slow process since her mother was just as stubborn as her.

"You wanted to see me, Lady Hokage?" Sakura asked with a polite bow.

Tsunade looked up just as she answered "Yes Sakura, I did, but first do you know where Shizune is? She should have been finished with her shift at the hospital right about now.'

Sakura couldn't help but giggle before she replied "The last time I saw her, she was about to give Kakashi-sensei an earful after another one of his training sessions with Sasuke."

Tsunade broke out laughing at this, "I swear that guy is going to be breaking my record on driving that poor girl crazy." She said, before getting serious, "Anyway, the reason why I called you here is because your parents have some things that they would like to discuss with you." She stood up and started to head towards the doors, "I'll leave you three alone to have your little family reunion."

When the doors closed, Sakura decided to have a seat next to her father. When the silence became too much, her father, John, decided to start the conversation, "So Sakura, how is your training coming along?" He asked.

Sakura smiled at this, "It's going fine." She said, "Although the first two months were truly painful for me." She started to rub her arms, "Hokage-sensei is a tough teacher, but she's helping me find my true self."

Rose, Sakura's mother, decided to swallow her pride for once in her life and do what she should have done in first the place since that day, "Sakura, honey, I want to apologize for what I did that day." She started to say, trying to avoid eye contact, "Ever since that day, your father has been trying to convince me to try and look at your friend in a different way, and when I started hearing some of the people that I used to grow up saying how much they wanted to kill him for making them look like fools from all the times they tried to physically hurt him. I was feeling a mixture of guilt and disgust when I left and it wasn't until I met up with Misty at the dango shop."

_Flashback_

_Rose was walking home after having what might be her last get together with people she called her friends since childhood. Before she didn't mind being with them because of the fact that they shared a similar hatred for one Naruto Uzumaki aka the kyubi-brat. Now she was feeling disgusted with them and herself for some reason. Ever since her daughter have spoken up against her about her opinion on the boy, and she responded by slapping Sakura in the face just for choosing to be Naruto's friend, or if she saw right, his girlfriend._

"_Do my eyes deceive me or is that Rose Haruno finally taking time from her high horse and visiting us regular folks?" She turned to see Misty Yamanaka sitting at the dango shop, with Anko and Kurenai._

"_Oh, Hi Misty, Anko, and Kurenai. Would it be okay if I join you?" She asked the three people she consider her friends._

_The three looked at each other before Anko answered "Only if you promise not to say one bad thing about Naruto."_

_When Rose took her seat, "Hey Kurenai, I heard that they were letting your team do their first mission together without you." Misty said._

_Kurenai nodded, "Yes, I believe the hokage wanted to see how well they would do by themselves since they're all chunin now. Right now I'm hoping that Shino and Hinata could keep Kiba at bay since he still has that impulsive streak that Naruto used to have." She said._

"_I guess she is doing the same with Ino and her team." Misty said, "And since my husband is also out on a mission with his friends, I decided to close up the shop early and enjoy the day to myself since I get only so few of them."_

"_A few of them my ass." Anko said, with a slight snort, "I can still remember the times when I walk in to catch you trying to do your version of sweet talking Inochi and Ino into covering for you whenever you don't feel like working."_

_Kurenai decided to go for a double team, "Or those times when you kept on finding a way to leave us the bill whenever we eat out together." She said, with Misty blushing in embarrassment._

"_Oh trust me she did worse, considering that we grew up together." Rose said, having Misty give a look that was practically begging her not to say any more, "Although I'm not in the mood to discuss that. Can I ask you all a personal question?" She asked. When they gave her a nod in return, "Can you tell me anything at all about Naruto Uzumaki? Ever since Sakura stood up to me about him, and my own husband has been treating him with the same respect he gives to our daughter since he was still a child, and after talking to people that I've always consider friends . . ."_

_Anko gave a slight snort at this, "Yeah I saw you with those assholes." She said, "You know for people to call me a psycho and to attack a child for something he was forced to carry, they are far worse then what they accuse us of."_

_Kurenai nodded in agreement, "I know. I've never knew Naruto personally, but from what my team has been telling me, especially Hinata, he has been wearing a mask most of life, making people underestimate him, and the people are despising him even more because he keeps outsmarting them by making sure that they either end up attacking themselves or each other without having to lay a single finger on them." She said._

"_What kind of things?" Rose asked surprised to hear how far her friends would go._

"_Except for the using name calling, glares, ignoring him, turning their own kids against him," Misty started to say, noticing that Rose was actually starting to feel guilty about what she did for the first time, "At first they would beat him to the brink of death, then just to make things worse they would vandalize his apartment, burn it, do everything they can to let him know how they feel about him."_

"_But that was just the first year." Kurenai said, "From what Hinata had told me, she seen him spending a lot of time with the Third, and the second year was when she saw the person that came before the mask."_

"_And to answer your question Rose, Naruto is a good person. From what Inochi and Ino saw during the Chunin finals and what she learned from Naruto before he left on his trip, he is the exact opposite of what people used to think about him. He is calm, smart, kind, strong, and from what I've learned if it wasn't for most of the village out to get him, he would have been rookie of the year, with possibly the perfect score."_

"_If he is so kind, then why is it that whenever somebody tries to be nice to him, or even apologize, that he would tell them to shove it up their ass?" Rose asked._

_Anko gave a slight snort, "What do you expect, that he be willing to give his trust that easily after all the years of crap he had to endure?" She asked, "I know that I wouldn't if it were me that went through the same thing he did, I probably would have lost it like Gaara did if he hadn't meant Naruto."_

_Misty spoke next, "Inochi told me what Naruto told him about how he wasn't going to give anybody his trust that easily. If they want it, they'll have to earn it."_

_Flashback ends_

Rose looked up towards her daughter with tears in her eyes, "Ever since that day, I started to realize that I never knew your friend as well as I thought other then the fact that he is the container of the Kyubi." She said.

Sakura was also starting to feel a little guilty at this moment, "I guess I shouldn't place all the blame on you since I'm just as guilty as you are." She started saying, tears coming out of hers, "It wasn't until after the exams that I finally started to notice him for real. Before then, I was too busy admiring Sasuke just like a good little fan girl, not even bothering to notice that the things I wanted from him was under my nose the whole time."

John knew what was coming next, so he was smart enough to scoot his chair back a few feet just in time to avoid both mother and daughter leap into each other's arms, yelling out a few apologies. He couldn't help but crack a smile at this, knowing that things are going to start getting better for the two from now on.

The fight between Naruto and Itachi has reached its climax, Itachi using his Susanoo attack, and Naruto with his sword at the ready, and his Rinnegan still flaring. Naruto could tell that this fight is taking its toll on his opponent by the way he was breathing hard. Naruto placed the sword back into the scabbard, and deactivated his dojitsu. "Itachi, how about we finish this with just hand-to-hand?" He asked, getting Itachi's full attention, "I can see that using the Mangeyko Sharingan is making you weak enough to the point where even a small breeze could knock you flat on you ass." He explained, while taking off his weapon pouches. "Let's finish this without anything but straight out hand-to-hand combat."

Itachi nodded at this, deactivating both his attack and his Sharingan, while following his example by disarming himself completely. When both got into a fighting position, "Let's finish this." He said.

"Let's." Naruto said, before both charged at each other.

Kisame gave a low whistle when he saw his partner was still having trouble fighting the blonde. "I see that you taught that kid well." He said.

Jiraiya was about to swell with pride until he noticed a brief glare from his student, which in itself said danger. "Actually I just showed him a couple of steps and he learned the rest on his own." He said, making sure not to face the wrath of his own student.

Itachi was beyond impressed at the fact that this boy could keep up with him, even in pure Taijitsu. Unfortunately he was running on fumes due to using his Mangeyko Sharingan for longer then he was supposed to. He decided to ask Naruto the question that keeps popping into his mind, "Tell me Naruto, you said that Sasuke is willing to welcome me back, does this mean you plan on bringing me back with you?" He asked. When he received a nod in return, while both stopped their attacks "Care to explain to me how?"

"Only two options." Naruto answered, "You either come willingly or I drag you back by your testicles."

This caused every male in the vicinity, human or not, to shiver at that answer. Itachi decided to ask the next question, "And how would you know that I would be allowed back into the village after what I have done to my own clan?"

Naruto answered again, "Because I had my sensei talk to the Hokage about the real reason behind the massacre and from the message I received from her in Suna, she is going to gather the evidence we need to use against those in the council who wronged so many people long enough."

Itachi sensed the sincerity in his answers, "Very well, I surrender and I will come with you if you allow it." He said, before turning towards his partner, "What about you Kisame, are you going to go back to the organization?" He asked before throwing his cloak aside.

Just as both he and Jiraiya stood back on your feet, Kisame smirked before removing his cloak, "Actually, I think I'll travel around with you guys." He said, while placing his sword back onto his back, "Besides, it would be too boring without you by my side."

Here is the latest chapter. Sorry if it's not what you expected, but I've been dealing with allergy season while I was writing it. Read and Review.


	10. The Last Namikaze finally revealed

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

It has finally become five years since Naruto left with Jiraiya and most of the village is anxious for his return, while the rest that were glad to have him gone. Right now Tsunade was doing the bane of all kages, which is the never ending paperwork. Just recently she received a message from one of Jiraiya's toads saying to expect them to return real soon and to make sure to have the stuff they needed to face the council.

She was just looking over a few D-ranked missions when a small knocking came from her door. "Come in." She looked up to be greeted by her apprentice, "Hello Sakura."

"Hello Lady Hokage." Sakura said, with a small bow, "I got your message saying that you have some good news for me."

Tsunade was trying her hardest to keep a straight face because she knows how badly her student has been waiting to hear this news. "I've just received word that Naruto and Jiraiya are going to be returning sometime today." She couldn't help but chuckle when she saw the grin grow into a big smile on the pink hair girl's face. "But there are two things that I would like for you to do before he gets here." Just as quickly as it appeared, Sakura's smile vanished into thin air, "First of all, I know you're determined to try and become friends with Naruto again, but the thing is that you need to actually become his friend first because right now you are nothing more then a teammate to Naruto at the moment." When she saw her student give her a confused look, Tsunade knew that there would be no easy way to say this, "Can you name one thing before the exam, or when Naruto revealed his true self that you did to him that was like a friend?"

Sakura looked down towards the ground, some of the guilt returning. "No, I was too busy trying to fit in with the others that I never once thought for myself." She said.

"I know Naruto still has feelings for you, I can see it in his eyes, but he's not going to open his heart again to you until he knows that you are going to love him for him, not because he is the son of the Fourth or because the other girls are doing it." Tsunade explained, "The other thing I wanted to talk you about is to control that temper of yours." She said, while getting up to sit on the other side of her desk, "I know that you tend to let your emotions get the best of you to the point where you don't realize how much damage you have done until it's too late. If Naruto says or does something that you just have to take a swing at him, then try hard to resist because he won't be afraid to defend himself the next time somebody tries to attack him." She looked up just as a puff of smoke appeared in her office to reveal a chunin, "What is it?"

The chunin bowed, "Lady Hokage, Lord Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki has returned with two others, and they want to know if you are going to come to them or they should come to you. What should I tell them?" She asked.

"Tell them to get their lazy asses over here." Tsunade answered.

The chunin nodded at this, "Oh and Naruto said that if they were to come to your office, then you need to make sure everything is ready within just one hour and that the only people that need to be here are you and Sasuke Uchiha." She said before disappearing the same way she came in.

When it was just two again, "Sakura, please leave and to tell your friends to spread the word that there is going to be a crucial meeting and they need to be there by the next hour and tell Sasuke to come here immediately." Tsunade ordered her student.

Sakura knew better then to argue with her sensei, so she nodded and left. As much as she wanted to be there to greet Naruto, she knew that if he wanted to talk to her, he would let her know.

Just barely a minute after the doors closed a swirl of water, a swirl of leaves and a yellow flash appeared in her office. When they revealed Naruto, Itachi and Kisame, "Where is that pervert?" Tsunade yelled out.

"Last time we saw him, he was ogling those lady Chunins, so they should give him their response right about now." Naruto said, and just as he finished, Jiraiya came in the window looking all beat up, "You should be grateful that it wasn't Anko doing guard duty because she would probably castrate you on the spot with one of her snakes."

Tsunade would be laughing on the spot after seeing her former teammate becoming extremely pale allover at the thought, but now wasn't the time, "Naruto, before we get started, I wanted to make sure . . ." Just before she could finish asking that question, Tsunade took one look at Naruto, who had one of his eyebrows raised, and remembered who she was talking to, "Right, I just remembered who your parents were."

Naruto walked up to the desk and pulled out a scroll from his jounin vest pocket, (A/N Don't ask, I'm pretty sure even the guys who work on Naruto barely even know half the stuff they're doing considering the amount of information they leave out.) and handed it to the elder blonde. When he saw Tsunade look back at him with wide eyes after recognizing the seal on it, "Yesterday we paid a little visit to the Fire Daimyo and told him everything, including some of my theories, and he's agreed to back us up on this." Naruto explained, "Although I had to fight all Twelve Guardians in order to prove my worth and defeating all of them was enough to impress the guy."

Tsunade looked like a statue until a loud knock snapped her out of her thoughts, "Come in Sasuke." She said.

After Sasuke closed the door behind him, he walked up to see his blonde teammate and gave him a small nod before stopping dead in his tracks just as he saw the face of somebody he hasn't seen since that encounter at the hotel.

The hour has come and the council chamber is stuffed to the brim, with the clan heads on one side, the civilian council on the other, and the main council in the middle. Along the walls, a full audience was watching to see what was so urgent to cause the Hokage to summon this meeting among them are most of the Konoha 12, their senseis, their families, Kin, Karin, and Iruka.

When Tsunade took her seat in the council, "Why did you summon us on such short notice, Tsunade?" Homura Mitokado asked the blonde. Even though he and Koharu Utatane were teammates of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, unfortunately they started to forget what it was like before they got to their position.

"One of our best ninjas has just returned from his training trip with Jiraiya and upon his request, I've decided to tell everyone his secrets." Tsunade said, "But first some good news, Orochimaru has finally been defeated and it was at the hands of one of our ninjas." Tsunade turned towards behind her, "Naruto and Jiraiya come in here."

When the pair came up, "So Jiraiya, you finally defeated the snake. Con . . ." Koharu started to say before she was interrupted by the Toad Sage.

"Guess again you old fart." Jiraiya said, before pointing towards his student.

While most of the room is in shock, "Prove to us that he was actually defeated." Danzo said, determined to get rid of the one person that can bring his plans to a screeching halt before it could bare fruit.

Naruto pulled a scroll out of his vest and rolled it out until he found the seal he is looking for. He drew a little blood from his thumb and placed it onto the seal. Out popped a familiar looking sword into Naruto's hand. "This is the Sword of Kusanagi, Orochimaru's personal sword, and if you want a second opinion, then I know who to go to." He said, before disappearing in a yellow flash only to appear in front of Tenten and her father, "Care for a closer look Masamune?"

Masamune was shocked since it's been eighteen years since anybody saw a yellow flash, but like his daughter, he can't turn down the chance to take a look at a rare weapon. After being careful enough to inspect the sword and his eyes grew bigger again, "It's the real thing. This is that snake's sword." He said, before handing it back."

"Thanks." Naruto said before return to the main floor, "Anyway, back to business."

Tsunade nodded, while trying to contain her laughter after seeing the look on the fools faces after seeing Naruto not only looking like Minato but also pulling off his signature move without using any hand signs. "Right, anyway, Naruto you want to tell everybody the truth about you know who, or should I?" She asked.

"I'll do it, but you have to explain the rest." Naruto answered. When he received a nod in return, "Okay this is the real story about what happened during the Kyubi attack."

"Don't you dare say a word you . . ." One of the civilian council members said, only to be stopped by an intense wave of killer intent coming from the young blonde, that brought the entire room into a hard sweat.

Naruto gave her a cold hard glare "Say those two words and I'll do something to you that would bring even the kyubi down to its knees." He said, before calming himself, "Anyway, as I was saying, the Fourth could never defeat the kyubi because it was immortal and even though he was amongst the greatest shinobi this village has ever scene, even he wasn't strong enough so he signed a pack with the death god himself that in exchange for his soul, that the fox would be sealed within a newborn baby and that baby was me. His last request was that I be treated like hero instead, well you know the rest." He said, while placing his hands across his chest. While most of the children were given there parents an angry look after realizing that they've been used for their parents own personal vendetta, the exception being those who already knew through Sasuke and Sakura, while most of the older adults had a guilty look on their faces, "And to let you know this is the real me. The one you saw, the dead last, the idiot, the one you all underestimated was just a mask I wore because, except for Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka and the Third, if anybody knew I was better then Sasuke, they would demand my head on a platter." He then looked at Tsunade a nod.

Tsunade returned it and sat up from her chair, "There is another thing about Naruto that he requested be told today and that would be who his family was." She said, getting everyone's attention, "Naruto Uzumaki's true name is Naruto Namikaze." This got everyone's attention, especially the clan heads, "Naruto is the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki. He is the last of both clans, but I'll let him decide how he wants to handle that." When she noticed the people's eyes growing in realization after taking a good hard look at Naruto, "Now you know the person you've been mistreating is the son of the man who you respected." This caused more guilt spread, except for the die hard old fools who are still criticizing the boy. Tsunade turned back towards her fellow blonde, "Naruto, time for you to give the final touch."

"What proof do you have that you are Minato's son?" Koharu asked only to receive a look so cold that it makes the winters in the Land of Snow more pleasant.

"What right do you have to use my father's name as if you respect him?" Naruto said, "He risks his life to save this village and the only way to repay him is to treat his only son like crap because the Third wanted to treat me like a person instead of a punching bag." He said, before pulling his sword out, "But if you're too dumb to not take the fact that I look just like him, then maybe this sword should do it."

Homura was about to give one of his 'respect your superiors' statement when he heard his old teammate gasp, "It can't be! Minato said he lost that thing years ago." He took a closer look at the sword and he just about croaked right on spot. There staring at those who were old enough to see it at least once is the Rinnesword. He looked up into Naruto's eyes and was even closer to having a heart attack. Looking right back at him was Naruto with a dojitsu that has never been scene since the days of the Sage of Six Paths, "Rinnegan."

Here it is, the latest chapter, sorry if it's a bit short, but besides allergy season, summertime is when my brain shuts down, and I'm just writing on fumes. Here are a few questions I want to run by you before I start the next chapter or two: Should I give Naruto one more (and I do mean one more) girl, or keep it NaruSaku all the way? If yes, then whom? And who should I couple Shino with, as well as the rest of the singles? Read and Review, and those who live in the States, enjoy the Fourth of July. Check the poll I put up on my profile page, and somebody just reported me for using an Author's Note as a chapter.


	11. A Few Tricks Up The Sleeve

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

And to let you all know, this is going to remain a NaruSaku story, those who wanted me to throw in a third girl, sorry to disappoint, but the poll kept tying or one side snuck ahead of the other, that I just flipped a coin and picked the winner. Those wondering why I put the poll up in the first place, well I'm not sure if it was the reviews for this fic, another one or somebody else's where I spotted a request for either an extra girl or a harem every now and then, I just decided to get it over with now and weed out those who do and those who don't. Hope you understand.

Here is a warning, there will be a spoiler or two coming up, but I'm also going to be throwing in some theories that I came up with after seeing the progress of the story on Narutopedia.

While the civilian council is just as clueless as ever, the clan heads and the main council are in a state of shock. The one dojitsu that doesn't follow the same rules and principles, or as well known, that the Byukagan and the Sharigan do. "So what, it's not as powerful as the Sharingan." One of them said, showing how much politicians really know, absolutely nothing.

"You're right, it's not." Shikaku Nara said, causing the die hard anti-Narutos, "Its stronger then the Sharingan."

While a lot of the civilians, and a few ninjas, were shocked to hear this, Naruto gave Hiashi Hyuga a quick communication with his Rinnegan eye, who gave the blonde a nod in return, knowing what he needed to do. The week before Naruto's return, he received a message by messenger toad that he needs his help in order to expose the council, mainly Danzo because he had a suspicion that the bandages are hiding something other then damage from the kyubi attack, and Hiashi is more then willing to help because of the added headaches he receives from both his clans council and the main one, he was willing to help get rid of one. He quickly activated his Byukagan and scanned the main council, and his eyes went wide when he got a good quick look at Danzo to confirm Naruto's suspicion and deactivated it before anybody would notice.

After getting a confirmation nod from the Hyuga, Naruto gave the civilian council a good strong glare before saying "And if you're thinking on turning me into another Uchiha, where I become your little weapon, then you might as well stick that thought all the way up your ass." Receiving strong angry glares from both civilian and the Main council.

Meanwhile, over where the rest of the Konoha 12 is sitting, Sasuke joining them just before the meeting started, are discussing about what was just revealed to them: Naruto is the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and he just revealed what they thought was a bloodline ability. The only ones that weren't shocked by this were the two that made up the remaining portion of Team Kakashi.

"Wow, I never would have thought that Naruto was related to the Fourth Hokage. I guess that means Naruto comes from a strong clan." Ino said.

"Strong is putting it mildly." They all turned to see Sasuke giving the council a dangerous look, "From what I found in my mother's stuff, the Namikazes are the most powerful clan in all the five nations because, even though they don't have any bloodline abilities, they are naturally gifted when it comes to just about anything, that's why the Fourth is so respected."

"What about the Uzumaki Clan?" Sakura asked.

Hearing the question, thanks to the kyubi's enhancement, Naruto decided to answer, "The Uzumaki clan were a very powerful clan from the Whirlpool village who were known to be the best in fūinjutsu and very long life spans, and according to my mom, one lived from before the founding of Konoha all the way into the term of the third." Naruto explain, "Also they were distant relatives of the Senju clan, which I guess means we're relatives, hey Hokage?"

Tsunade couldn't help but smirk at this due to the looks coming from the council, "I guess it does brat." She said, "And I just remembered a jutsu that just might prove your parentage." She got up from her seat and walked up to her fellow blonde. She performed a few hand signs before saying "Medical technique: Family Tree Jutsu. (I know, lame name, I just thought it up on the spot.)"

A pair of smokes appeared briefly before dispersing to reveal the parents of Naruto Namikaze. On his left is Minato Namikaze, his father and the Fourth Hokage, and on his right is Kushina Uzumaki, his mother and Konoha's Red-Hot Blooded Habanero. The room is dead silent, whatever doubt that was in the room was shattered like glass. Everyone knew that this technique never lies, and standing before them is the one biggest source of regret they ever felt, except for the civilian council who saw dollar signs and the main council who had other ideas. Standing there are the two people that they've respected all their lives standing behind the boy they threw aside because they needed somebody to vent their anger on.

When the two disappeared in a puff of smoke, Homura is the first to recover, "Since you're the last of two clans, Nami . . ." he started saying, before he got intercepted by the blonde ninja.

"Three actually, since one of my grandfathers came from the Senju clan, so I'm connected to that clan just as the current hokage is connected to the Uzumaki clan." Naruto said, causing the civilian council to get greedier, and the Clan heads wanting to protect the boy as much as possible, "Although as it turns out, I'm not the last Uzumaki, since I encountered some of my relatives." This got the dirty half of the council to shake a little bit in fear, "And if you were going to try and invoke the CRA on me, then you can shove that up your ass because I'm not going to be you're breeding stock just so you would have perfect little weapons, just you were planning with Sasuke."

"You're forgetting your place, boy." One of the civilian councilwomen threatened, "I suggest you learn it or else!"

"Or else what?" Naruto shot back, while crossing his arms, "Because the last time I checked, all you've been doing is sitting on your fat asses, abusing your powers even though this is suppose to be a ninja village."

This made the civilian council nervous because nobody has ever got the urge to stand up to them and challenge their authority, and they were sweating because the clan heads are making it perfectly clear who's side there on. Koharu decided to speak up, "Show some respect to your superiors, demon, or you'll be thrown into an ANBU cell." She ordered him.

"Love to see you try you old hag!" Naruto shot back, causing Tsunade to quickly compose herself before she decided to jump out of her seat to brain the young blonde, remembering that he was talking to the older lady, while on the inside, she, Jiraiya, Kisame, Itachi, and everyone except the civilian council, were laughing their butts off as Naruto had the nerve to talk to one of the main council members like that, "As for respect, I'm giving the exact same kind of respect to the Hokage and anybody else you consider inferior to you."

Before any one of them could deny it, "He's right," Tsume Inuzuka said, getting everyone's attention "You keep telling everybody that they should respect their superiors, you even tell the Hokage to give you respect even though you don't have a single ounce of respect in your whole body." Nobody was brave enough to talk back to her since Tsume is known as one woman you don't want to piss off, and her rage comes second only to Tsunade herself.

"Troublesome, but she's right," Shikaku said, "Ever since I've been here, I've seen you three abuse their power, forgetting their place in this village thinking that you have the same amount of power as the hokage, yet you never bother to realize that you're suppose to be nothing more then advisors to the Hokage."

Knowing what buttons he needs to push now, Naruto decided to go for the kill, "And during this training trip, I've discovered some evidence where the council has over stepped their authority a bit too far, like the Uchiha massacre." He said, getting a lot of people's attention, especially the main three, "More specifically the real reason why Itachi would go so far to destroy most of his own clan."

"ANBU arrest him now!" Koharu yelled out, trying to keep a secret that even the clan heads don't know anything about. When nobody showed up, "ANBU we demand you to do what you are ordered." When nobody still didn't show "Why are they disobeying their orders?"

"Because the ANBU was formed to follow the Hokage and the Hokage alone." Tsunade said, "And you ordering them around without my discretion are considered an act of treason, if my memory of the law serves me right."

"Plus I'm pretty even the ANBU would like to know what would cause one of their best and well respected to all of a suddenly become one of the most feared criminals in Akatsuki." Naruto said, making the three even more scared, realizing they're biggest mistake, "And you'll have to kill me if you want to stop the truth from getting out."

"Not a problem." Danzo said, before snapping his fingers. Four Foundation ninjas appeared out of nowhere, "Destroy that demon!"

Naruto just stood there, not even fazed. Just before the ninjas came close enough to take him out permanently, Kisame took two out with his sword, Samehada, while the other two had a kunai right between their eyes courtesy of Itachi, scaring a lot of people, "You didn't by any chance think you were the only one with a small army in the shadows now, did you?" He asked, to the shock of most of the room, "Anyway why not hear the reason behind it then straight from the horse's mouth."

"And why should we believe in the words of a criminal?" Somebody from the audience yelled out, starting a small commotion.

"I don't know why should you believe the words of the kyubi brat?" Naruto asked back, causing the people to be quiet again because the past was now biting them in the ass about what they did, or try to do, to the boy who has managed to outsmart them at every turn when they tried to blame the boy for their own mistakes. "Besides, even if you do try and deny them their pardon, we've already paid a visit to the Fire Daimyo and he gave them a full pardon, especially Itachi, when we told him everything." He said, while pulling out a scroll with the Daimyo's seal on it. He tossed it towards Tsunade, who caught it with ease.

After opening the scroll, and looking over its contents carefully, "It's official. The Daimyo did give Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki a full Daimyo's pardon, meeting that none of us has any say over it." She rolled up the scroll and tossed it towards Hiashi, "You know what you need to do."

Hiashi rolled the scroll open, while activating his Byukagan. When it comes to getting a second opinion when it comes to scrolls, then who better then Hiashi whose bloodline allows him to see any signs of the scroll being a fake. After looking it over, "It's real alright. No seals of any kind on this scroll." He said, before tossing it back to the hokage.

"Now explain the real reason behind the massacre of your clan, Itachi." Tsunade ordered the now ex-criminal.

"Yes Lady Hokage." Itachi respectfully replied, along with a bow, "I was following orders from the council to wipe out my clan because they were planning to stage a coup-et-tat to over throw the Hokage and the council and take over the leadership of this village." He explained, while a small uproar was about to erupt, "My clan was getting tired of being treated like we are criminals ever since people started accusing us of summoning the kyubi to attack this village, even for all of the years of loyalty we displayed while we were running the police force. Before I left, I made sure to make sure that Sasuke stays safe and protected or else I would come after them."

Naruto turned towards Danzo, "And I'm pretty sure the mummy here got a few constellation prizes out of this." He said.

"What are you accusing me of boy?" Danzo asked, although he was more curious about how Naruto knew.

"I'm not accusing you of anything." Naruto answered, "Before I left, I remembered something after I first saw you. I could sense some kind of power coming from you, something similar to Kakashi due to that Sharingan eye of his, except more spread out. I did some research until I came upon the part about the Uchiha Massacre, and realized that before the bodies could be burned, you took one of Fugaku's eyes and put it into your right eye, and helped yourself to a few others and placed them onto your right arm. That's why you have the bandages, not to cover up any wounds, just to protect your ass."

"And before you can deny it Danzo," Hiashi said, "I've already confirmed it by scanning you with my Byukagan and everything that he accusing you of is the truth."

Knowing that he was backed into a corner with no way out, only two words left the war hawk's mouth, "Foundation, attack!"

Here it is, a nice little cliffhanger for the heck of it, plus I ran out of ideas for this chapter, so you'll have to wait awhile until I get this little showdown going in the next chapter. Let me know if I got any info mixed up, as long as nobody forgets that this is fanfiction. Read and Review, and a NaruSaku moment in the next chapter or two, if I don't forget.


	12. Fall of Danzo

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.

Sorry I haven't updated, right now it's harvest season around here and it makes my allergies go haywire from whatever gets collected in the air, like dirt and pollen, and I've got about seven other stories to update, so I have enough headaches to deal with.

The warning from the last chapter still stands, and if the little fight scene(s) disappoint you any, sorry, I'm somebody who would only fight if he has to or as a last resort.

Twenty ninja dressed up like ANBU, except for wearing completely blank masks appeared, "Kill the Hokage, the demon and his two little friends there." Danzo ordered his own troops.

While Tsunade was getting ready to fight, she noticed that the four people that came to make Konoha wake up to the realities of their past deeds are not even budging once. Just as she was about to yell at them about their imminent doom from attackers, she saw four of her ANBU appear out of no where to take out the attackers, protecting Naruto and his friends. When the ANBU surrounded the four, more ANBU appeared to take out the rest of the Foundation ninjas in the room, along with a few jounin.

When the last Foundation ninja fell, Naruto looked towards the main council to see that the three were in complete shock, "Look's like you're going to have to get off your fat lazy asses and try and see if you can still remember what it was like to be a true ninja." He said, his Rinnegan doing a ripple effect, "And if you still want to resist, then be my guest, because me and a couple of Sannins would love to have our little differences settled right here and now." Both Jiraiya and Tsunade confirmed this by cracking their knuckles, anxious to pay them back for all the headaches they gave to their sensei.

"Either way, true justice will be served for all of the times you abused the powers of your position for your own gain." Itachi said, "And all of the Sharigan eyes you stole from my clan will be destroyed so that they can finally rest in peace completely."

"Foundation soldiers, take out that demon and all of his supporters." Danzo yelled out, before throwing a smoke bomb onto the ground, to cover their escape.

What caught people by surprise was the sound of flesh meeting flesh could be heard inside the smoke, followed by some screams and a body flying out towards one of the walls. When the smoke cleared, they saw Itachi and Kisame holding Koharu and Homura by the back of their clothes, both unconscious, with Naruto standing in the middle. On the other side is Danzo, who is barely standing from the punch in the face he received from Naruto, with his bandages becoming unraveled, "Oh come on now, you've got the son of Minato Namikaze and two ex-Akatsuki ninjas in here and you were expecting to make a clean getaway." Naruto said, "And to think that people were always looking for any kind of excuse to call me an idiot." Most of the group couldn't help but feel guilty because they were one of those few, especially Sakura since she was among the worst of who used him to take her anger out on, "Anyway, hey Hokage now would be a good time to start getting the troops on the move."

Tsunade nodded at this, "I want all available genin and chunin to get all civilians out of here now, along with five jounin to provide cover. The rest of the jounin fight off the Foundation ninjas in the village along with any available ANBU we still have within the village. Parrot, spread the word to the rest of the ANBU." She ordered out, before turning towards Naruto's friends, "I want you all to help with protecting the village from the ruthless attacks that the Foundation ninja are definitely going to try to pull off." She then turned towards Itachi and Kisame, "Drop those two traitors to Ibiki and help us out."

Everyone started to get to they're duties, except for Sakura, who didn't want to leave Naruto alone to fight against somebody who was suppose to be on par with the Third Hokage. When a pair of Foundation soldiers try to go for a sneak attack on Naruto, who was holding Danzo back with his sword, "Naruto, look out!" Sakura yelled out on pure instinct.

Just before anybody could come to their friend's rescue, a pair of tornados tore one to shreds, which both revealed to be Tsume and Kuromaru, while the other was taken out by Hiashi's Gentle Fist. Shikaku stepped up and said "You all attend to your duties. The clan heads and me will cover Naruto."

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled out, just before he kneed Danzo hard in the gut, "Get your ass out their and help protect the village! Now's not the time to prove yourself too me because right now I'm too busy trying to make sure this asshole pays for all the lives he destroyed for his own gain."

Sakura was about to argue before she started to feel herself being pulled away by Sasuke and Neji, "Unless you want him to start thinking that you haven't changed much since he's left, you better come with us." Sasuke said.

"And Danzo is the worst person you would want to distract Naruto from." Neji continued, "What would you do if you ended up distracting Naruto long enough for Danzo to take him out permanently?"

That was enough to put an end to Sakura's struggling. Did she want to make amends towards the blonde? Yes. Did she want to try and see if she has any chances towards a good strong future with the young man? Yes. Did she want to blow any possible chances for romance before it even started because she wanted to do something that the masked Naruto would have done? Hell no. The only thing she can do was wish for Naruto to come out of this in one piece and help protect the village.

Naruto gave a brief, thankful nod towards the other two dojitsu users, before watching Danzo performing a technique that hasn't been used since the days of the First, "_Wood Release: Impaling Roots._" Danzo called out his attack. Four roots shot out of the floor towards the blonde. Just before came within striking range, the roots froze into place, and shattered to pieces, while the room itself started to feel like they were trapped inside a freezer. "_Ice Release: Frozen Tundra_." Naruto said.

Danzo is growling. That last technique drained him a good portion of his chakra, while all of the Sharigan eyes he had implanted onto himself did the rest. While he knew how the Sharigan is suppose to work, the problem was that Naruto didn't use any hand signs whatsoever.

Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't even winded by this fight, even with the Rinnegan being active for so long. He placed the sword back into its scabbard. "You know, I'm disappointed. I was expecting to have a decent fight and it felt like I was fighting a new student at the academy." He said, throwing strong blows towards the man's pride, "I wasn't even in my sage mode."

This definitely got Danzo the motivation he needed to pull out his last desperate move. He decided to try to activate the move that hasn't been used since the days of the Sage of Six Paths. After trying to gather up the chakra he needed, he realized that nothing was happening he couldn't feel any chakra flowing anywhere. "What is this? Why can't I activate it?" Danzo asked out loud.

"The seal that I slapped onto your forehead might have something to do with it." Naruto said, shocking the old man because this boy was definitely Minato's son, full of surprises, "And were you by any chance trying to activate this?" He asked before saying the one word that changed about everybody in that room, "Izanagi."

Danzo's eyes went wide at this. The move that he cheated by combining the chakra of the Uchiha and the Senju into his body with Orichimaru's help, is being used by the boy he tried so hard to either turn into a weapon or eliminate because he could bring an end to all his years of planning and sneaking around to achieve his own personal goals. "How are you doing that boy?" He asked, while trying to think of a way out of this mess.

Naruto smiled, "That's a secret you'll find out in hell, or with Ibiki, if you want to get technical." He said, before vanishing like he was just a ghost, only to be replaced by countless of souls walking towards him, one of them being Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, "Now it's time for you to pay for all the things you've done to these people just because you let a rivalry get the best of you, especially to some relatives of mine that I'll never get to know because you helped destroy their village." After the voice rang out, Danzo got a good look to see some of the souls had red hair with a symbol on their forehead protector that he hasn't seen for over twenty years now.

Everyone in the room, especially the Foundation troops, are having trouble believing in what their seeing: hundreds of actual souls are attacking the leader of the so called super-elite Foundation force, just got his ass handed to him by a boy barely a quarter his age, and right now is screaming like a little girl after being attacked by a bunch of ghosts. Five minutes later, deciding he heard enough, Naruto walked up to him and gave a good chop to the man's neck, rendering him unconscious. Naruto turned to the rest of the group, "Foundation ninjas, your leader has been defeated and incapacitated, now spread the word to your troops, and tell them to surrender now." He ordered.

"Yes sir." One of them said, "From now on, we will follow your orders." All of them vanished before Naruto could say anything.

Naruto just rubbed his head for a bit, "Great, now I think I'm going to need some sake after this miss is over with." He said, before dropping Danzo's unconscious body onto the ground.

"Considering the paperwork that's going to be coming out of this, I'll join you." Tsunade said, while rubbing her head as well.

Here it is, the latest chapter, sorry it's late, just having a round of bad luck these past couple weeks, from what's left of allergy season, the power going out, and the fact that my computer picked up a Trojan virus, so I've been busy trying to get rid of the crap that tried to make itself at home on my computer. Sorry for this chapter being a bit short, I have too many projects to write, so I'll try to make it up to you when I get around to it. Next chapter will start off with a bit of a history lesson and end with a NaruSaku moment you might like. Read and Review.


	13. Aftermath and Life's Lessons

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last couple of chapters still apply.

Tsunade is looking out the window of her office, thinking about what to do next. The sun was starting to set and everybody was recovering from all of the chaos that they had to endure throughout the day. From learning the truth about the heritage of the boy they treated as a criminal to the truth behind the massacre of one of their strongest clans all the way to the true colors of those who they thought was looking out for them.

The battle has barely lasted half an hour before word spread that the Foundation troops are now following the orders of one Naruto Namikaze due to the defeat of their original leader, Danzo, giving the villagers one more good reason why they should start respecting the blonde even more, although the civilian council and the die hard anti-Narutos decided to try and raise a big stink about how he was just trying to get on their good side before stabbing them in the back.

Casualties on both sides have been rather light, amazingly enough no deaths but plenty of injuries. Right now they decided to give the entire village the rest of the day off to spend time with their families, with Naruto having the clan heads keeping the secret about him using Izanagi, especially from their families, since its something they don't want to risk alerting the other elemental nations about something that would cause even more unrest between them.

At the moment Naruto and Jiraiya are at the Foundation Headquarters trying to help the ninjas there regain their humanity while also trying to figure out how to remove the seals that were placed on them to keep them from spilling any secrets involving their organization and Danzo, plus finding anything in his personal files that would help them find out his secrets or which families each one belonged to in order to help with the healing process.

Both Sasuke and Itachi went to their home to catch up since their first meeting was mainly about the truth behind the massacre and what they had planned for bringing down the corruption and hatred created by the council. Kisame has became fast friends with Ibiki and Anko and decided to join them in the torturing of Danzo and the other two. As for the rest, right now they were all getting ready for tomorrow when they decided to implement some changes that her, Naruto and the clan heads plan to make, wither the civilian council likes it or not.

A gentle knock on the door got her attention. "Come." Tsunade said while turning around, to be greeted by her first apprentice, "What is it Shizune?"

Shizune, like most of the villagers, got a rude wake up call when they found out that the people who were suppose to be protecting them, especially Naruto, were only too busy making sure that they were in control while making sure the Hokage didn't have a say in the matter.

"I just wanted to apologize for going behind your back by telling the council everything." Shizune said with a small bow, with a few tears coming out of her eyes "Naruto tried to warn me in his own way that the council might not be who they appear to be and now I realize that he was right, if the council were looking out for the best interests for him, then they would have been working with both you and the Third, not trying to undermine your authority because they don't like it."

If this matter wasn't so serious, she would try her hardest not to say those four little words used for a mean form of bragging. "I know," Tsunade said instead, "And what makes it worse is that they were sensei's teammates who were taught by my granduncle who was the Second Hokage and yet sensei was the only one who didn't let it go to his head, like Kakashi didn't keep reminding people that he was Minato's student." Tsunade couldn't help but chuckle "Although Naruto would have kicked his ass all the way to Kumo and back if he insulted his father's memory like that."

Shizune fidgeted a bit, "Speaking of Naruto, why didn't you agree with the council about keeping him confined within the village?" She asked, "Wouldn't he have been safer then being out their where the Akatsuki are looking to take the kyubi from within him?"

Tsunade looked at her first apprentice and shot back "You mean safer in a village where most of the population wants him either dead for containing the kyubi, or outsmarting them in more ways then one, or turned over to the council so that he can be turned into both a breeding factory for super ninjas and their own little weapon like Suna tried to do with Gaara?" When she saw Shizune's eyes grow wide at this, "That's why I refuse, because then I'll be spending the rest of my life questioning my own humanity just like damn villagers have been doing to the brat since day one."

Shizune realized what else she needs to do. "Looks like I owe Naruto an apology as well." She said, "But I'll have to wait awhile since Sakura told me that he wanted to speak with her tonight."

Tsunade had a pretty good idea what Naruto wanted to speak with her about, "I just hope Sakura remembers my advice if it doesn't go the way she wants it to." She said, before deciding to call it today.

_Uchiha Compound . . ._

The Uchiha Brothers are in the living room, enjoying some time together as brothers instead of enemies. They could recall all of the times where things went from bad to worse of the kyubi attack when the villagers were treating them like common criminals to when both of their lives have changed completely because their clan got tired of being treated the same way Naruto was treated and Itachi was forced to choose either help his clan or protect his village.

"So I've noticed you finally found a girlfriend." Itachi said, with a smirk "Care to tell me a little bit about her?"

Sasuke couldn't help but blush at being put on the spot by his older brother, "Her name is Karin and we've met about a few weeks after Naruto left to go on his journey." Sasuke said, "She used to be one of Orichimaru's lab rats until she snuck out and now she works here as a medic-nin. The only thing that I have to be careful about is the fact that she has a libido that would probably even put the kyubi out of commission. Plus she is kind of like a mixture Sakura and Anko." When he seen Itachi give a little shiver, "What's wrong?"

Itachi looked at his brother and said "Let's just say that in Naruto's own words, that if I didn't drop the stiff act before we returned, he was going to hook me up on a date with Anko as a more direct approach."

Sasuke couldn't help but shiver at this as well, "I don't blame you. One time while Kakashi was reading that book of his, she must have been in a pretty foal mood since she tried to use her snakes to take out his book and his manhood at the same time." Causing both of them to shiver, "Although when it was revealed that he used a substitution jutsu to get out of it, I hurried on out of there before she decided to turn on me."

"Smart move." Itachi said. Deciding to change the subject as quickly as possible, "I see that you managed to keep the place looking somewhat decent."

Sasuke looked around, "Yeah well for some reason, I just can't seem to find myself to leave this place." He said, "At first it was just to help fuel my desire for vengeance, now I'm not sure anymore."

Itachi had a good idea why, but he decided to wait until he was use to being in Konoha again before deciding what he wants to do.

Kakashi is sitting at Ichiraku's, deciding to enjoy some ramen since Naruto was the one to introduce him to it. Normally he would be busy reading his favorite book somewhere without a care in the world, but now he felt like the past was once again kicking him in the ass. Even though Naruto told him to forget about it, after seeing Naruto pull off one of his sensei's most famous move, and finding out he was strong enough to kill a Sannin, reminded him on how badly he missed up.

"Everything going alright with you Kakashi?" Teuchi asked the masked ninja.

Kakashi gave a small sigh, "Let's just say that no mater how hard I try, I don't think I would be able to truly know Naruto Namikaze." He said.

"Oh, you finally found out about his heritage huh?" Teuchi asked, while getting ready to close the shop down for the night.

Kakashi choked at this, "You *cough* already *cough* knew about his parents?" He asked, while punching his chest.

"Oh yeah, it wasn't that hard to figure out since his parents were among my best customers," Teuchi answered, while sending an empty pot towards the back, "He might have Minato's looks and Kushina's attitude, but the one thing that he gained from both of them was their appetites."

Now Kakashi was starting to feel like the masked Naruto. He spent plenty of time with both the Fourth and his wife, and yet he goes off to become one of things he told his team what they would become after they passed his little test. "Considering that you and the Third are probably the only ones in this entire village to know the real Naruto, can you tell me a few things about him?" He asked, deciding to do something he should have done on day one.

Teuchi was more then willing to oblige

Up on the top of Minato's head stood a very nervous Sakura. When Naruto told her to meet him here, she wasn't sure what to expect. Ever since that day when Sasuke set her straight about how her feelings for him was just her imagination and that the person she should of pay the most attention to is the teammate she paid the least attention to. For the past five years she spent not only improving herself as a ninja, but also as a person because after seeing the real Naruto, and doing D-ranked missions with him, she came to realize that she was still lacking somewhere.

'I wonder if he still has that crush on me?' She asked herself.

'How do you know it was a crush?' Inner Sakura shot back.

'What do you mean?' Sakura asked.

'What if it was really love not a crush?' Inner Sakura started to explain, 'He said so himself that he stopped pursuing you because the only person you wanted to be with at the time was Sasuke and he didn't want to keep getting in your way.'

Sakura couldn't help but feel sad at being reminded the words she kept using on the blonde while he was wearing that mask, from trying to cheer her up to just plain old saying hi. 'But what about after the Chunin Exams when I . . .'

'When you what, finally noticed him?' Inner Sakura intercepted 'God I swear you spent more time either keeping your nose in the books or trying to woo the Uchiha then you have in real life. Don't you remember what he said at the flower shop, he wasn't going to take anymore crap from anybody, especially us, and we have to earn his trust by giving him a good enough reason to give it.'

Before she can respond to that, Sakura turned around just as she heard footsteps approaching her. When she saw the blonde approaching her location, "Hey Naruto . . ."

Well, here is the latest chapter, and to tell you the truth I wasn't planning on ending this with a cliffhanger. To give you a heads up, I'm just going to try and update my other stories and take a break from fanfiction for about a week due to the fact that I've been writing and reading it for about almost a year straight and I'm at the point where I need to stop for awhile or else I might end up getting sick of it. Hope you understand. Read and Review.


	14. The Real Naruto

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last few chapters still apply.

Sakura couldn't help but feel sad at being reminded the words she kept using on the blonde while he was wearing that mask, from trying to cheer her up to just plain old saying hi. 'But what about after the Chunin Exams when I . . .'

'When you what, finally noticed him?' Inner Sakura intercepted 'God I swear you spent more time either keeping your nose in the books or trying to woo the Uchiha then you have in real life. Don't you remember what he said at the flower shop, he wasn't going to take anymore crap from anybody, especially us, and we have to earn his trust by giving him a good enough reason to give it.'

Before she can respond to that, Sakura turned around just as she heard footsteps approaching her. When she saw the blonde approaching her location, "Hey Naruto, how have you been?" She asked, while trying to keep calm.

Naruto walked up until he was near edge of the monument and stops before answering "Oh besides returning home to kick some old bastard's ass, having most of the village kissing my ass after finding out about who my old man is, having to deal with a bunch of people who are too stubborn to see past the fox and cleaning up the messing of a bunch of older fossils, then I'm having a peachy time."

"Oh it can't be any worse then what the Hokage goes through, can it?" She asked, before receiving a tired look that told her everything, "I guess it can be."

"Yeah and unfortunately we are far from done." Naruto said.

Deciding to change the subject, "So how was your trip?" Sakura asked, "I see you managed to learn your father's most famous technique while you were away."

"Yeah, when I wasn't too busy trying to get the little pervert to actually teach me something that Itachi and Kisame didn't know." Naruto said, his face being neutral.

"That's super pervert you ungrateful little brat." Rang out from nowhere, followed by an "Oh crap!" Just as the sound of certain things meeting flesh, from metallic to flesh reached their ears.

"Anyway, how did things go for you?" Naruto asked.

The next half hour was spent catching up with each other, from what went on both in the village and what went on during the training trip. While Sakura's hopes were slowing approaching a very dangerous high, Naruto was still keeping neutral. When they were caught up on just about everything, Naruto decided to get what needed to be done, "Sakura, did Sasuke ever tell you what really happened at the bench after our team assignments?" He asked, making sure that he was ready for anything.

"No he didn't." Sakura answered, "I've was always curious as to why in one moment he becomes a complete opposite one minute and back to his original self the next." She then turned towards the blonde, "Why, do you know anything about it?"

Deciding that it was now or never, a puff of smoke appeared and vanished, replaced by a twelve year old Sasuke, "Your head is so beautiful it makes me want to kiss it." Naruto answered, before transforming back.

Sakura's eyes went wide at this, "T-th-tha-that was you?" She yelled out in shock, only to receive a nod in return, Naruto not once diverting is eyes away from the village, causing her temper to start flaring, "Why would you do such a thing? Couldn't you just walk up and talk to me like everybody else?"

Naruto turned his head and gave her a look that would make Tsunade sober on the spot, "Considering that you wouldn't even bother to give me the time of day, then no I couldn't because you were too busy enjoying la-la land to even bother paying attention to anything else ." He said, "I asked politely to join you for lunch and you toss me aside just because I was the dead last."

Sakura couldn't help but flinch at each and every syllable, "But I was just a kid back then and I wasn't even sure what I was doing at the time." She said, and judging from the look that Naruto was giving to her, she knew that was just as bad as the excuse the villagers used when it came to their treatment of Naruto all those years ago.

"That's just as bad as the villagers accusing me of being the kyubi even though the truth was right under their noses." Naruto said, "What about all those times since we started out as a team that you kept treating me like I was a nuisance?"

Inner Sakura decided to throw in her two cents, 'Are you forgetting which Naruto you're talking to here? He even said so himself more then once that the Naruto we knew was just a mask and that this one here is the real him.'

"Yeah, well, you were too busy acting all immature that I just didn't think you were worth the time." Sakura said.

"Does that include all the times I risk my neck just to save your life?" Naruto shot back, "As for immature, compared to me, you were the worst out of all of us."

Sakura's temper got the best of her, "Take that back Naruto." She threatened, while bringing out her gloves.

"No Sakura." Naruto said, "And this time, I'm not going to cower just because you disagree with me on something."

Not even thinking clearly, "Then I'll just have to give you reason why you should start now." Sakura said, while getting ready to strike him down with a chakra enhanced punch. When she was close enough to make contact, she swung only to be in for a big shock. Naruto batted her fist aside and placed a finger right between her eyes. "You wouldn't dare." She called out, hoping this Naruto wouldn't dare to hurt a hair on her head like he did when he wore the mask.

"Like I told everybody in this village, I'm not going to take anymore crap from anyone." Naruto said, before turning to face her, "Especially you." Just as he said that, he flicked his finger with barely any strength and sent her flying towards a nearby tree. He walked up to her and decided to explain why he was here. "The reason why I called you here is because you were giving me the same look you used to give to Sasuke before I left, and I decided to give you three chances to become my friend before even beginning to think about approaching that level."

Sakura was still catching her breath when she decided to speak. "I thought we already were friends, Naruto."

"No, right now the only thing we are is just teammates." Naruto said, "I gave you plenty of chances to become my friend but you never bother taking them because before the exams, you were too busy trying to fit in and following the crowd and after the exams, well I'm not sure of the reason why at the moment."

While determined to save her own skin, "That's because my mother kept telling me . . ." Sakura started to say before Naruto intercepted her.

"That I was a bad child and you should stay clear of me." Naruto said, "Oh please, I've heard that excuse so many times it makes Kakashi's little habit seem less irritating." He then looked her straight in the eye, "At least you had a childhood. I was denied one since the day I was born. I was despised for something that I had no control over, no family wanted a demon container, except for Iruka, most of the teachers did everything they could to sabotage my training, most of the stores either throw me out or charge me more then I could afford on most things and that's just the start of it. I've started my ninja training when I was five, when both the Third and myself agreed that since I can't fight back, the least I could do is outsmart my tormenters and protect myself. I went to Ichiraku's because that's the first place that made me feel right at home." He then started to walk away, "Now you know something about the real me. I'll tell you the rest when I feel I can trust you a little bit more."

Sakura was now frozen on the spot after hearing that. She knew that Naruto had it roughed, although she seen him pull stuff off that even Sasuke would never have thought about, and she still doesn't know a thing about the blonde. Right now, the only thing she can think about are two words: What now?

Here is the latest chapter. Sorry for it being a bit short, I haven't been doing much writing for over month, because I needed to take a nice long break from it, so now I'm just warming my way back into it. To let you know, in January, I'm going to be moving to another town, so I'm going to try and squeeze out one more, and possibly longer chapter, before that happens. Read and Review and Happy Holidays, in case I don't update by then.


	15. The Day After

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last few chapters still apply.

It was now the morning of the next day in Konoha and it was mostly business as usual, except that now that word has through out the village the real truth about Naruto, now he has to deal with the same people kissing Sasuke's ass.

Right now in the Hokage's office, Naruto and Tsunade were waiting for an ever late Jiraiya. "Why do I get the feeling that pervert is busy conducting his little 'research'?" Tsunade asked out loud.

"Then you would be right on the money." Naruto said, "Which usually gives me a good enough excuse to pull a fast one on him."

Before Tsunade asked, "Sorry I'm late, I was held up." Both turned to see Jiraiya jumping in through the window, although his voice was sounding a little high pitched.

Naruto noticed something sticking out of his pant legs, "You weren't by any chance crazy enough to take a peep at the hot springs while Anko was there, were you?" He asked.

"How did you know?" Jiraiya asked in shock.

Tsunade noticed it as well, "Because I know for a fact that isn't a piece of you sticking out of your pants." She said, while smirking.

Jiraiya gave them a curious look before looking down to notice a snake's tail sticking out of his pants, with the shape of one leading up to his crotch. "Oh crap!" He yelled before punching where he figured the head would be. While the punch got the snake to disappeared, unfortunately for him, "Oooo, aaaah!" He forgot which part of his body the snake was attached to.

Considering the laughing that was coming from the two blondes in the room, sympathy for the guy was out the window, "Well you did do it to yourself." Tsunade said.

"Yeah, if you were dumb enough to use the Rasengan on yourself, then you would have our sympathy." Naruto said, only to get a look from Jiraiya that pretty much told them not to even joke about something like that.

After he recovered enough strength, Jiraiya took a seat next to his student. "Okay, who wants to start?" He asked.

Meanwhile, over at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino was once again bored out of her mind. While her participation in yesterday's fiascoes wasn't much, she would have preferred that over sitting here during one of the slowest days of the year.

When the bell ringed, she looked up to see a familiar face. "Hey forehead, how did your meeting with Naruto go?" Ino asked. When she noticed the look on Sakura's face, "Okay, what did you do now?"

Sakura looked up, not too pleased with the accusation, "How do you know it wasn't Naruto that started it?" She shot back.

"Because all the times that weren't spent trying to get Sasuke's attention, the one thing I did notice were that Naruto never did look for a fight, a fight was always looking for him." Ino said, "And after hearing about the truth about him and the Kyubi, well, I started remembering all the times that most of the village kept trying to do something evil to Naruto, only for him to piss them off even more when he outsmarts them."

Sakura knew that she was busted on the spot, "Well it all started out perfectly until Naruto revealed a secret that he's kept since we were put into teams." She started saying.

Ino opened her mouth before her brain caught on, "Oh you mean he finally confessed?" She said, before slapping her hands onto her mouth.

Sakura looked up at her, fire in her eyes, "You knew?" She asked. When Ino gave her a nod as an answer, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Deciding that since it was out in the open now, "Well I was having lunch with my team at the time when we watched Naruto ambushed Sasuke. I thought Sasuke won when I seen him crawl out of the window until I watched him walk out the door. I was confused until Shikamaru pointed out that the first Sasuke was a fake." Ino explained, before giving Sakura a calm look, "Plus even if I wanted to tell you at the time, you wouldn't have believed me because we were apart of the same club at the time."

This sizzled out Sakura's anger completely. She knew what Ino said was true, due to their constant need to become Sasuke's one true love Sakura would have accused her right on the spot of trying to pull a fast one on her. "I'm sorry." She said feeling depressed about her past with the two blondes.

Ino was starting to feel depressed as well, "Same here, Sakura." Ino said, "Although I probably owe you a bigger apology."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, "You didn't do anything to me."

"Actually I did," Ino said, "I was the one who gave you that inflated ego mainly because I was too busy enjoying the attention I was getting without realizing how badly I was treating you. After we tied at the exams, and watching Naruto doing his stuff, I started thinking and realized that I was the one who turned you into another of version of me."

"Well actually you just gave me the push I developed the rest on my own." Sakura said.

"You got that right." Ino said, trying to lighten the mood, "Anyway, what happened after Naruto told you about that day?"

"After he told me, we had an exchange of words, and when he said something that was true, I tried to 'persuade' him into taking it back." Sakura explained.

Ino knew exactly what she meant, "And let me guess, Naruto showed you who the better ninja was." She said.

Knowing that it would be useless to try and argue at this point, "Yeah, he sent me flying into a tree with just one finger after swatting one of my punches aside as if it was just a regular punch." Sakura said.

Ino's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she heard this, "Damn, he must be ultra strong to do that." She said.

"No I think that was his regular strength, even without the kyubi." Sakura said, "And before he left, he told me how he had to try and outsmart most of the village that were out to get him by either attacking him or keeping him from learning anything."

"You mean you don't remember?" Ino asked. The next hour was spent talking about Naruto and the past.

At the Uchiha Compound, Sasuke was trying to see if he had any food left in the premise. "I'm guessing you didn't bother to pick up the concept of buying and cooking your own food, huh little brother?" He turned to see a smirking Itachi leaning against the entrance to the kitchen.

"Well after you left, I had my own fan club and most of the village doing the shopping and cooking for me because they wanted to be on good terms with their 'oh so precious' last Uchiha." Sasuke explained, "After Naruto managed to change things, will all I have been doing is either eating out or buy a bunch of those instant meals."

"Or going to Ichiraku's." Itachi said.

"Yeah that too since the people there believe in doing the right thing, no matter what." Sasuke said, after finding nothing.

"What about your girlfriend, can't she cook?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke shivered a little; "While Karin might be a great medic and a terrific girlfriend, when it comes to cooking," He answered "Let's just say we can bring down the rest of the Akatsuki with just one bite."

Itachi went wide at this for a bit, "Well everybody except for Deidara." He said, "For somebody who has more then one mouth has no taste in any of them."

"Well as much as I want to keep talking, let's go grab some breakfast." Sasuke said, "Kakashi asked that we have a little reunion as team Kakashi."

"What happened to Team 7?" Itachi said, as they stepped out of the main compound.

"Somebody took over the number and we had to change it to avoid confusion." Sasuke explained, "Although this time we are considering showing up late considering Kakashi's track record when it comes to being on time."

"I know," Itachi said, "He pissed off father one time by showing up half a day late and he didn't even treat father with any respect."

"Not as nearly as bad as risking sudden death with the Hokage by showing up late while reading that damn book of his." Sasuke said.

"You don't like the book either, huh?" Itachi asked.

"Not since I found out Karin was a big fan of those books." Sasuke said, looking a bit annoyed, "Every time she gets a certain look in her eye, it's time for me to hurry up and the get the hell away from her since I don't want to do that stuff until we get married."

"Smart and risky move." Itachi said, as they entered the restaurant.

About four hours later, at the team's regular meeting spot, Sakura, Sasuke, and this time Kakashi, who was three hours late as usual, are waiting for Naruto to show up. While reading his infamous book, 'So this is what it feels like.' Ran through Kakashi's head, while ignoring Sakura's glare.

When the blonde finally did show, "Naruto, you're late!" Sakura yelled out.

"Well, when it comes to Kakashi, I figured I was on time." Naruto said, not bothering to use any of Kakashi's usual excuses, "Anyway, I have a council meeting to get to within half an hour."

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you Naruto?" Kakashi asked, while putting his book away.

"You're one to talk Kakashi." Naruto said, "I can't help but wonder how many good missions we missed out on due to your tardiness."

Knowing that he was put on the spot, "Anyway, since we're all jounin here, this should take no more then a few minutes, right?" Kakashi asked, while bringing out the bells that helped form the team, "And remember, come at me with the intent to kill."

Naruto put a hand into his pouch, only to bring out . . .

I'm back and I leave you with a cliffhanger, ain't life troublesome. If you have any couple ideas, let me know. Read and Review.


	16. The New Sage of Six Paths

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last few chapters still apply.

Knowing that he was put on the spot, "Anyway, since we're all jounin here, this should take no more then a few minutes, right?" Kakashi asked, while bringing out the bells that helped form the team, "And remember, come at me with the intent to kill."

Naruto put a hand into his pouch, only to bring out a small green book with the words "_Icha Icha Tactics_" on the cover. "How about I trade you for a bell." He said.

While resisting the urge to take up on that deal, "And why would I want to do that?" Kakashi asked, trying to keep his composure.

"Because if you don't then this book is going to somehow wind up in the path of one of Sasuke's fire jutsus." Naruto said, egging his former sensei on, and from all the sweating pouring down the man's face, he was succeeding, "And it would be a real shame too since this is the first copy ever made and signed by the author."

That did it, "You win." Kakashi said, as they threw each other the desired items.

Sakura smacked herself in the head, "I can't believe he is actually willing to go that far for a bunch of porn." She said.

"I could, that's how Shizune is able to get him to show up on time for their little dates." Sasuke said, "I caught a few, mainly with her threatening what she would do to his books if he was even a minute late."

Naruto gave a slight chuckle at this, "I'm not surprised considering who her teacher was." He said, before tossing a bell at Sasuke, "Anyway, I better get going to that council meeting. There is still a lot of bullshit that needs to be cleaned up."

"Like what?" Sakura asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Naruto said, before disappearing in a swirl of flames.

Sakura gave off a small sigh, "Even though he said that the Naruto we met was a fake, I miss that one." She said, "He was always open to all of us back then."

"You mean the one that was always in your crosshairs?" Sasuke asked, causing her to flinch, "You know what they say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

"Which would be the Team 7 curse." Kakashi said, while breaking in his new book.

"What curse?" Sakura asked.

"That's something you might want to ask the hokage about." Sasuke said, "Anyway, I better get to that meeting as well. According to Itachi, our clan well be one of the things Naruto will try to clear up, and I want to be there to help set the record straight." Taking a little something out of Kakashi's book, he gave the two a little wave before poofing away in a cloud of smoke.

Before Kakashi could follow suit, "Wait, Kakashi-sensei, what is this curse you spoke of?" Sakura said.

Kakashi gave a small sigh, "To put it simply, what might have been started when the Third Hokage was the sensei to it ending with you three, the people who were in it had a bad start and an even worse ending." He said, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Sakura looked like she wanted to slug somebody, but instead, went off to do a little research on the history of Team 7.

Over at the council chambers, the clan heads and the civilian council are in their respected seats, waiting patiently for the Hokage, Naruto and Itachi to show up. Most of the clan heads were having a discussion amongst each other, while the civilian side was busy trying to think of ways to save their own hides due to the fact that the main council is now under the capable and dangerous hands of Ibiki and his interrogation department, with Kisame as a special courtesy of Ibiki himself.

When the doors opened to reveal the three, plus Sasuke, one of the civilians felt a brief burst of courage. "Hasn't that thing done enough damage already?" That person blurted out.

Naruto looked at the individual, "Somebody could ask the same thing about you." He said, causing the rest of the council to glare at him, "And whatever power you've might have had before I returned here has now been greatly reduced."

Tsunade decided to step in as she takes her seat, "Which means that you can no longer go over my head or any future hokage without some form of punishment." She said, "Now let's get down to business."

_Prison_

Meanwhile, a very ticked off Danzo is sitting in his cell, moping like a big baby. Not only was he humiliated by one Naruto Namikaze and his skill with the Rinnegan, but now he was totally useless since Tsunade had personally saw to it that his Sharigan eye and his right arm be completely removed and destroy, courteously of Itachi and the flames of Amaterasu.

He looked up just as the door opened to reveal a smirking Kisame. "Well, since I'm not needed at the moment for anything, Ibiki and Anko agreed to let me handle your interrogation personally." He said, while cracking his knuckles.

"You will do no such thing." Danzo said, trying to maintain some control.

"Your two pals already tried that with Ibiki and that creepy snake girl and judging by the screams, I don't think they are going to last much longer, especially that old man." Kisame said, before snapping his fingers, giving the two guards the go ahead, "And if you were expecting any of your little soldiers to break you out, then you are going to be in for a long wait because they already picked Naruto as their new leader."

'Those traitors,' Ran through Danzo's mind, 'oh well, even if they do take him to my office, they still won't be able to find everything.'

As if reading his mind, "If you have anything sealed away and hidden, then you're in real trouble since the boy has manage to gain a few things from his demon," Kisame said, "Plus you need to be reminded who he was traveling with for the past five years, and he is known for other things besides being a pervert."

Now Danzo was really afraid, because he just remembered reports from his spies that the blonde was starting to become as good a seal master as his father and Jiraiya. "Well, enough chitchat, it's time to get to work." Kisame said, just as the guards started to drag the man out, "And I won't even need to use my sword for this."

_Council Chambers_

After barely an hour and a half of talking, all hell broke lose from the civilian council because after discussing Naruto's findings about what has been going on ever since the Third was the hokage, first it was a mixture of sweating and denying everything, now it was a shout fest because the Hokage decided to bring in some long needed changes. One of them, of course, had to do with money, or more specifically, an audit was ordered to look into all of the businesses that have been giving Naruto the cold shoulder.

"Why should we allow anybody to look at our finance records just because we refused to allow service to that brat?" One of the council members said.

"You mean besides the fact that the stuff you're wearing seems to cost more then a Hokage's pay?" Naruto asked.

This caused the council to really be nervous, while Sasuke continued, "Or the fact that your business have been selling more exotic merchandise then usual, especially since you were all born here?" He asked, "Even working hard to get me to spend some of my clan's fortune on your stuff."

"And how you always try to get high end client to sustain your lifestyle," Itachi said, "From my clan to the Hyugas and now that it has been proven that Naruto is the son of Minato Namikaze."

"And besides, if nobody from this tower will submit, then I'll just send word to the Fire Daimyo himself and have him send his own accountants." Naruto said.

"This in turn will help determine the future of this entire village." Tsunade said, "Naruto already gave me a message when he returned here that clearly stated that if nobody in this village hurry up and clean up their act, he is going to personally lead a thorough investigation into this village and if he finds nothing good, then I'm pretty sure even you idiots can figure out the rest."

And figure it out they did because everybody knew that if the Daimyo wasn't happy, then everybody within this entire village will be screwed. "You win." The head of the civilian council said.

"Nice to here," Tsunade said. "Because to put it simply, the only people the Daimyo would spare is Naruto and anybody he would deem worthy enough to be saved."

"How were you able to pull that off, Naruto?" Tsume asked.

"I fought the Twelve Guardians and won." Naruto said, "And let me tell you, those guys would make a good portion of ANBU seem as weak as you clowns."

While the civilians were fuming at that comment, "What else are you hiding?" Shikaku asked, "Because my wife would have a field day with me if I don't tell her everything I know."

"Let's just say it's something that is not meant for everyone's ears yet." Naruto said when he received a nod indicating that they understand completely, "Anyway, on to the next topic at hand."

"Agreed." Tsunade said, before turning towards the Uchiha brothers, "Itachi, Sasuke, have you decided on how you want to handle your clan's current status."

The brothers looked at each other before looking back at the Hokage, "Lady Hokage, right now if it's okay with you, I believe we would rather that you keep our seat in the council empty until when there is a dire need for it to be filled." Itachi said, "I'll gladly take it when the time comes, but I would like to go back to working for the ANBU for a while, kind of get back to my roots in a way."

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement with this, "I would also like to maintain my status as a ninja," He said, "After having a nice long talk last night, and I believe I would rather try to bring back the police force that our clan used to run."

Tsunade nodded at this, "What about you, Naruto, how would you like to handle your clan?" She asked the youngest blonde in the room.

"I would like to keep my clan's status inactive since as far as any of us knows, I'm the only living member." Naruto said, "Plus I would like to take over the empty Sannin slot that is currently available."

Tsunade thought carefully on this, while one of the civilians decided to raise a big stink, "Why should we let an orphan brat like you have an honor that belongs to somebody better then you."

"Name one." Naruto said, "And if it's Sasuke, then you're going to have to explain to all of us on how he deserves it."

"Especially to me since I was nowhere near the Sound Village, ever." Sasuke said, "And I hope it's not the same line that helped form that damn fan club."

"What are you complaining about?" Naruto shot out, "I'm the one who is now stuck in their crosshairs, or at the ones that are just more determined to improve their image."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sasuke said, "While I did see most of them move on by finding somebody else while taking their ninja careers more seriously or decided to give civilian life a better chance."

"Okay, I'll agree to your terms, but I need to get the councils backing on this first." Tsunade said, "Those for . . ." Tsunade and all of the clan heads raised their hands, "Those against . . ." The Civilian Council raised theirs, "Then majority rules, all three of you will have your requests granted."

Inochi couldn't help but to add some salt to the wound, "Well what do you know," He said, "What they say about what goes around comes around really is true."

"Anyway, before I dismiss you three, what would you like to be called Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"The New Sage of Six Paths." Naruto answered, before leaving.

After the doors closed, "Man talk about taking a big risk." Was heard through out the room, "I hope the kid knows what he's doing taking that name."

Tsunade couldn't help but feel mad at this, "Excuse me for a few minutes everyone." She said, while she started to crack her knuckles. The entire tower started to shake as a cry of excruciating pain was heard through out the room.

_Outside of the Tower_

The trio stepped out, "Hey Naruto, how about a trip to Ichiraku's," Itachi said, "It's been a long time since I've been there."

"Sure, I've been too busy from yesterday that I haven't got a chance to pay them a visit." Naruto said.

They barely made it halfway there before they were greeted by one of the last people they wanted to see, "Hello Naruto, how are you doing?"

"I was doing fine until you showed up Ami." Narutos said, "What do you want?"

Sakura was just heading towards the Hokage Tower to see her sensei after a failed attempt to find out the history of Team 7. When she asked the librarian if she knew anything about the curse of her team, only to find out that the lady was clueless as she was about it.

She was stopped in her tracks when she spotted the one thing that she would never expect in her wildest dreams. There stood Ami, the girl who always made her life a living hell, is trying to put on the same moves she tried with Sasuke.

"I'm giving you the honor of being allowed to take me out on a date and become my boyfriend." Ami said.

Sakura couldn't help but smack herself in the head. 'This girl is a bigger airhead then me and Ino combined.' She thought.

'No kidding.' Inner Sakura added, 'She either didn't get the memo about Naruto no longer taking crap from anybody or she thought that would make him another Sasuke.'

"And that would be considered an honor how?" Naruto asked, while crossing his arms.

"Because my family is on the council," Ami said, "And they'll be more then glad to help improve your image, even help you accomplish your goal of becoming hokage."

That was more then enough to help Naruto with his answer. "I don't date gold diggers." He said, before the three boys continued on their journey.

Here it is the latest chapter. I'm sorry if it isn't much. I have a birthday coming up and I've been busy reevaluating my life, trying to figure out what I have accomplished and what I didn't, and it ain't pretty. Next chapter will be where Team 7 has dinner with Sakura's parents. Read and Review.


	17. History and Invites

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last few chapters still apply.

"Because my family is on the council," Ami said, "And they'll be more then glad to help improve your image, even help you accomplish your goal of becoming hokage."

That was more then enough to help Naruto with his answer. "I don't date gold diggers." He said, before the three boys continued on their journey.

Ami was looking furious, "You're going to regret that!" She yelled out, "My parents will destroy you once I tell them what you said!"

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure one of the things they will tell you is that you would be committing social and career suicide." Naruto said, "Because while your parents might serve on the council, I am the son of a hokage, the Fourth Hokage, which would put me higher up in the food chain then you."

"And when you throw in the stuff you did to him while we were still at the academy," Sasuke said, deciding to throw in another blow, "Then you would end up being the dead last in the social circle."

Sakura was trying hard to contain her laughter after seeing the look on Ami's face after hearing the cold hard truth from the now two strongest boys of their class. While unintentional revenge was Sakura's weakness, like trying to pound Naruto into submission for something so petty, this was something she couldn't resist, even though she wasn't much better then Ami back at the academy.

After watching the blonde, who intentionally started out as the dead last, and now his Konoha's most eligible, and most hunted, bachelor, walk away with the rookie of the year, and no longer the Last Uchiha, walk away, she felt like she was going to die on the spot. She looked up just in time to see a familiar pink hair girl running up to the trio. It didn't take much for anybody to over hear what they were discussing.

"Hey Naruto, Sasuke, I almost forgot, but my parents wanted me to invite the entire team to our house tonight for dinner." Sakura said, "And she wouldn't mind if Itachi came along since he is your brother, Sasuke."

"I'll consider it, as long as your mother doesn't try anything." Naruto said, before the trio walked away, with the brothers Uchiha right by his side.

While the mother part was unexpected, Sakura was glad that Naruto was actually willing to give her and her family a chance, especially since her mother always tried to drive him away from her due to her past hatred for him and the kyubi. When she turned around to continue her trek towards the Hokage Tower, she was face to face with a ticked off Ami, "How does a low life like you get the attention of somebody like that?" She asked, forgetting one tiny little detail.

"You mean how a low life, which was trained by the Hokage herself, could have possibly got a chance to have dinner with the two guys who happens to be on the same team as me?" Sakura said, not resisting the urge to rub it in her face that the girl that used to get bullied back at the academy is now a grown woman who can kick some serious ass without even trying, "I don't know, just lucky I guess." She said, with a smirk that would make Ino proud, "Now if you would excuse me, I have to go talk to the hokage about a few things."

After leaving a steaming Ami behind, Sakura was trying her hardest to keep her composure, while Inner Sakura was making it difficult from all the laughing she has been doing ever since that gold digger remark.

_Ichiraku's_

The three boys made it to the ramen stand without incident. Deciding to try for a different greeting, "Hey, where can I get some service in this dump?" Naruto said, knowing how to push the Teuchi's buttons.

"What are you calling a dump you . . ." Teuchi started saying, with a butcher knife in hand, until he got a good look at his number one customer, "Naruto, is that you?"

"The one and only." Naruto said, before he ended up flying out of his seat by a woman that was nothing more then a big sister to him, "Nice to see you too, Ayame."

After realizing what she has just done, Ayame had the decency to blush just as she got off of the blonde. After helping the young man up, she started to give her father the evil eye as he was laughing like crazy. "Dad, don't start with me." She said. Yet it wasn't until she locked eyes with Itachi and she lost her composure, a small blush starting to appear on her face, "I think I'll go prepare those orders."

Itachi was blushing as well. What most people didn't know was that he and Ayame grew up together, and they were starting to develop feelings for each other until that one night that changed everything. When he turned to see both his brother and his friend giving him a smirk, he was hoping it wasn't what he thought it was, "What?" He asked.

"I think you might want to start going back on the dating scene again, big brother." Sasuke said, "Because from here, it looks like you still have somebody willing to welcome you with open arms."

"Its just too bad she missed." Naruto said, "So what's the deal between you two?"

Itachi gave a small sigh, "We started off as childhood friends, having met since we were about 3, 4 years old." He explained, "Mother was the one responsible for introducing us, because she didn't want any of us to be as uptight and arrogant as most of the clan. We spent a lot of time together, even though we took separate paths, and just after I joined ANBU, I believe we were starting to discover our feelings for each other."

"So what happened to stop you two in the process?" Sasuke asked.

"Three guesses." Naruto said, "And you won't even need one."

"He's right the massacre was the one thing that changed everything." Itachi said, "And how do you explain something to somebody you love that you just destroyed most of your clan and family to save a village, especially if you have to choose between the lives of your clan or the lives of the village."

What nobody realized was that Ayame was listening to the hold thing. While she was touched by the fact that Itachi still has feelings for her, she knew that she could never comprehend what Itachi had to go through, having to choose between help his clan take over the village or save innocent lives by killing almost every single one of them.

"True, but since people are already finding out that the massacre was ordered by the council, not due to the craziness of a madman, then how do you know she won't accept a date from you?" Sasuke said.

Naruto knew that Ayame was listening in on them, "Yeah, I've known Ayame for a long time and she never holds any grudges." He said, "Except maybe against Chouji who accidentally ate her lucky spoon."

"You mean that wooden one that had the painted lines on it?" Itachi asked, "The one she keeps attacking Teuchi with whenever he uses it?"

"Yes, that's the one." Ayame said, as she came out from the back, "Anyway, I'll be more then glad to accept a date with you Itachi."

Sasuke and Naruto couldn't help but to laugh because Itachi Uchiha, somebody who could destroy an entire army with just his eyes alone, is sitting in shock at what he just heard. Sasuke wasn't going to miss this opportunity as he pulled out a camera and took a picture of this.

_Hokage Tower_

Tsunade is now in her office, getting back to the paperwork that was lighter then usual. The council meeting ended a little bit after the beating of the super pervert did. While everyone already knew the risk Naruto was taking by choosing his Sannin title, that wasn't the reason she pounded him. The reason behind the beating was because instead of being out there to back his student up against his oppressors, he just stayed in the dark and didn't make himself known until after he left. Last anybody ever saw of him, he was limping out until Shizune had enough sympathy to actually heal him.

A small knock was heard, "Come in." Tsunade said. She looked up to be greeted by her young apprentice, "Hello Sakura, how are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine, Lady Hokage." Sakura said, "Although I was hoping to start doing some missions with my team when Naruto returned from his trip."

"Well, right now your guess is as good as mine about when that is going to happen, but there is a good chance that Team Kakashi won't be together much longer since everyone on the team is a jounin which means the only time you will be a team is when you're ordered to work together." Tsunade said, "So how did your talk with Naruto go last night." When she watched as Sakura looked towards her feet, with her long hair covering her face, the answer was more then obvious to anybody, "That well huh? Let me guess, he either told you some secret or stood up to you, you decided to try and make him see things your way and he was the one to put you in your place instead."

"That is the short, short version, but yes that is how it happened." Sakura said, "He told me the truth about that day at the academy, when I thought it was Sasuke who was complimenting me on my forehead, and we had an exchange of words, mainly I was looking for an excuse towards my choices and he basically told me to stop making excuses and take responsibility for my actions. I didn't take to well because he had the nerve to tell me that I was wrong and I forgot which Naruto I was talking to, so when I tried to punch him, he swatted my hand aside and sent me into a tree with just one finger."

"So he pretty much defeated you the same way I was able to defeat him after our first encounter." Tsunade said, "So did anything else happen."

Sakura gave a small sigh before answering, "He told me about his past, where most of the village kept trying to his life a living hell, from the villagers to the teachers, before he left." She explained, "I never knew that Naruto had such a hard life."

"Never knew or never bothered to know?" Tsunade asked, causing the girl to flinch. While she knew that it was a low blow, it had to be said, "Sometimes that is the problem when you're starting something before you have matured completely, like becoming a ninja before you become a teenager, you end up growing up faster while most people your age have already found that special somebody."

Sakura was now starting to wonder if this is anywhere to what Naruto had to grow up with, when most of the village would keep reminding him what he was chosen to carry while most of the kids kept treating him like the dead last. "Sensei, what is the Team 7 curse?" She asked, "Kakashi brought it up and I can't seem to find anything about it."

Tsunade gave a small sigh, knowing that question was bound to show up. As much as she wants to hunt Kakashi down and pound him into submission, she can understand why he didn't want to talk about it due to how Team 7 ended for him. "The Team 7 curse is something that so many of us would want to forget." She explained, "The curse started due to our own ignorance because we didn't bother to open our eyes in time before it was too late. It started off the same way it started for you, yet for us ended in disaster."

Sakura wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, "So wait, you were a weak, pathetic fan girl too?" Shot out of her month, followed by her hands covering her mouth and a prayer for a painless end, which never came.

Tsunade gave a bigger sigh this time, "Weak no, fan girl, sort of, but pathetic, now that I think about it, most definitely." She said, "Because I was no better then you in the fact that I swoon over Orochimaru the same way you used to with Sasuke, because he was the rookie of the year, while like Naruto, I've always responded to Jiraiya's proposals for a date and any other question with a harsh no and even harsher punch, and a good chunk of those weren't from being perverted. Even the Third was playing favorites with Orochimaru like your sensei used to with Sasuke, although Sensei did help Jiraiya a little bit by improving those damn pervert jutsu of his."

Sakura felt like she was seeing what her future could have been like if Naruto didn't take his mask off and changed so many people's opinions about everything. "And I'm guessing the ending was no where near pleasant." She said.

"That would be an understatement." Tsunade said, "It wasn't until the time for the change of Hokages when things got out of control. There were two choices for the position of Yondaime, Orochimaru and Minato Namikaze. It was a tough choice, but when Minato was chosen, Orochimaru did not take it well, because he a Legendary Sannin, have been chosen over for somebody who was not only younger then him, but was also a student of Jiraiya."

"So wait, you're saying that . . ." Sakura started to say, trying to get the right words out.

"You got it Orochimaru was like Danzo he had his own personal reasons to seek out the position of Hokage." Tsunade said, "People were disappearing, most to never be heard from again, and it wasn't until Minato was sworn in that it was revealed that snake bastard was conducting immoral, inhuman experiments that violated the very rules of nature itself. When he tried to make a break for it, sensei tried to stop him, but the only way to stop his student was to do it at all costs, and sensei wasn't willing to kill his student by his own hands, which gave the bastard the perfect opportunity to get away so that way he would make the village pay for denying him the power he could use to do his experiments with no questions asked."

"What about Jiraiya when he was a sensei?" Sakura asked, "if he and the Fourth were part of team seven, then shouldn't they have encountered some troubles?'

"Nothing happened until after we separated onto our own paths." Jiraiya said, just as he made his usual entrance, "While two were lost within the last war, along with their teams, Minato and I were the only ones left at the time."

"And what about Kakashi-Sensei, he was on Team 7 too wasn't he?" Sakura said.

"That's his story to tell." Jiraiya said, with a sad impression, "While we could tell you, but since he is the only one left from Team Minato with in this entire village, then it's something you need to ask him."

While Sakura was a bit disappointed, she could understand where they were coming from since she wouldn't want to tell anybody's tragic story without their permission, or make them even more depressed. "And how did it end with us?" Sakura asked.

"With Naruto," Tsunade answered, "While Naruto might have displayed the same kind of vitality and determination as his mother, like his father, they both have the tendency to change things for the better."

This was enough to help Sakura on her quest to redeem herself in Naruto's eyes since she has done very little to become Naruto's friend. "I better get going. My parents asked me to invite my team over for dinner tonight and I still need to find Kakashi-Sensei." She said, as she started to leave, "Although I'm still a little sore when Naruto flicked me into a nearby tree with just his finger, and not a single ounce of chakra."

When it was just the two of them, "Damn, I knew he was holding back, but this is all news to me." Jiraiya said, "Even his parents couldn't pull that off."

"Neither can I," Tsunade said, "And if what I've seen in the council chamber yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg, then I'm really need to have a little talk with the brat as soon as I can."

"Right now, if you want, I can tell you what we've been through during the five years." Jiraiya said.

Here is the next chapter. Sorry for the wait, right now I have been going back to college, looking for work, and spending as much time away from the computer as possible, I have been having a hard time balancing everything, especially with the homework. The next chapter will focus mainly the dinner at Sakura's parent's house. Read and Review, and have a Happy Halloween.


	18. Dinner at the Harunos, part 1

**WHY I'M SO STUPID?**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings from the last few chapters still apply.

Wow, it's been over a year since the last update. Sorry about that, 2012 has proven to be one of my worse years since I couldn't get enough concentration or focus to write anything.

Oh, and a message for those of you who take this stuff **too** seriously, like the stories or how the characters are done, try your luck with the next story because I'll keep this one the way it is and the direction it is going.

Now on with the story.

The Haruno household was swarming with activity, done by only one person, Rose Haruno. Right now she was busy trying to make sure that their guests would have a good first experience in their house. While they only had an hour before their arrival, all John can do was sit back in the living the room and stay out of the way if he didn't want to get run over.

When a small knock was heard, John walked up to answer it. When he opened it, he saw Sakura standing there, in a nice little red dress that was modest and wasn't close enough to be considered classy (don't ask, like I said, fashion is not one of my strong suits). "Hey dad, is mom still going at it?" She asked.

"That and more." John said, as he let her in and lead her towards the living room, "Although I had to make sure to remind her that if Naruto is anything like Minato and Kushina, then formalities and all that fancy stuff would never work on them."

"So wait, you were friends with the Fourth?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah, and let me tell you, while Minato was considered a genius, nobody took him seriously in the academy either, not even Kushina." John said, "Although I guess underestimated and bullies is something that Naruto ended up inheriting."

"Wait, you mean . . ." Sakura started to say.

"Yeah, when Minato was young, well people thought he was a hopeless dreamer when he announced about his plan of becoming Hokage. Even when he was proven a genius, people couldn't take him seriously because one of them being he was a blonde, which were so few in this village and sounded more like a hopeless romantic when it came to Kushina, which comes to the underestimating part." John said, "That's where the underestimating comes in. As for the bullying, when Kushina first arrived from Whirlpool, most of the class picked on her because she was the first redhead that any of us has ever seen, and unfortunately a big mistake due to her temper."

"So you're saying Naruto got his temper from his mother?" Sakura asked, after hearing this side of the story that most people would never hear.

"Yeah, more or less, although he had better control over it then her." John said, with a small chuckle, "At first, people started calling her tomato because of the shape of her face and her hair, unfortunately, that was also how she earned her nickname the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, because when you make her mad, she would knock you on your ass and pulverize you to no end."

Sakura couldn't help but to shiver when comparing Kushina Uzumaki and Tsunade Senju by their tempers, "So how was the Fourth able to get Kushina interested in him?" She asked.

This is where John gave a small, sad sigh, "Let's just say that the Kyubi was something Naruto also 'inherited' from his mother." John said, getting a gasp from his daughter, and to make sure to counter a possible future question, "The reason I know this is because Minato told me and the rest of the clan heads because we were close friends throughout the academy, and this is before I met your mother."

"So wait, you're saying that Naruto is the second . . . " Sakura started to say.

"Third, but I think it would be better if you heard it from either Naruto or the Hokage." John intercepted, "Anyway, as I was saying, you do remember the story of what happened to Hinata when she was young?"

Sakura thought back for a bit, remembering something from one of their small talks, until Neji's face popped up all of a sudden, "You mean when some guy from Kumo tried to kidnap her from the Hyuga Compound?"

"Yes, unfortunately that is the one, although even more unfortunate it wasn't the first time Kumo tried something like that, especially with this village." John said, noticing the undivided attention he has been getting, "Again you're going to have to ask Naruto the reason why, anyway, to put it simply, Kumo kidnapped Kushina and Minato was the one to save the day. After that, well I've never seen quite a happier pair then those two."

Now Sakura felt a little depressed, because she been through similar situations, unfortunately, she kept attacking the hero because he wasn't the one she wanted.

A loud voice could be heard from outside, "So Sasuke did Kisame even give you those pictures of Itachia here?" Naruto voice could be heard.

A loud laugh, could be heard, "Yeah, when he told me he had pictures of my 'sister,' I wasn't sure what he was talking about until I seen it." Sasuke could be heard, "How were you able to trick him into pulling that off."

Despite the sound of a loud growl, the answer was given, "Well, I told him that I wanted to trade jutsus and when I got one his, I gave him a variation of my Sexy Jutsu." A loud knock was followed. When Sakura opened the door, Naruto continued, "Yet I didn't give him the name, instead I just had him follow the hand signs, put in the chakra and poof, his body matched his head." Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi, who was early for a change, turned to the person at the door, "Hey Sakura." While Itachi was fuming from embarrassment.

"Hey guys, come on in." When the quartet of men came in, Sakura tried to hid a blush when she got a good look at Naruto. Even those his choice in clothing is just semi-casual, a simple shirt and pants, the shirt did a somewhat decent job on outline Naruto's chest. Right away she decided to make sure that her focus is elsewhere, "So how is it that Kakashi-Sensei is early for a change?"

Naruto noticed the blush and can tell that this one is honest, completely opposite from the ones she used as a fan girl. "Oh we threatened to sick Shizune if he decided to show up late." He answered.

"So wait, you're saying I look more like a girl?" Itachi asked.

"Yes." Was the answer from everyone in the room.

"Although not as bad when compared to Hiashi and Neji," Sasuke said, as he tried to the Uchiha version of sympathetic, or at least his version, "Remember that one time when we watched as a female version of Hiashi chasing Naruto around?"

This cheered Itachi up a bit, "Yeah, one of the few times you get to see a 'royal' clan gets knocked down a few pegs." He said, before he asked Naruto, "How did you pulled that off?"

"Oh that was when I started to practice with Fuinjutsu and when I started to work on creating a few seals of my own. After a while, I made a seal that changed a person's gender whenever it is applied, and only stays that way until it is taken off." Naruto explained, "I first tested it on the Third," He explained, while pulling out a picture, which showed Hiruzen, still with his beard, yet with long hair and a pair of lumps on his chest, with a WTF look on his face, causing everyone in the room to laugh, "So then I decided to try it out on a few more test subjects, and who better than the Hyuga clan?"

This was Rose came in and told them that dinner was ready. (Use your imagination on the food because the only Japanese food I can remember is Sushi.) While gathered at the table, Rose was having a little war with herself, or to put it simply, some old habits take longer to die out, "So tell us a little bit about yourself, Naruto?" She asked politely.

"What would you like to know?" Naruto asked, while trying to be as polite as possible.

"Well, Sakura told us about that mask you wore and I want to know what your likes and dislikes are, or rather your real ones." Rose said.

Here is part one of dinner at the Harunos. Sorry for being a bit short, right now I'm still trying to get back into the habit of righting. Part two would be up sooner depending on how big the demand will be. Hopefully by then, I should be able to give Naruto what he is really like with his profile, like hobbies and stuff. Read and Review and have a Happy New Year.


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